Sacramento, California - California Governor Gavin Newsom recently called out President Donald Trump and other Republicans who have been blaming Democrats for causing a potential government shutdown.

On Saturday, Newsom re-shared an X post from the White House that declared "Democrat-Led Shutdown Will Put Law Enforcement 'Lives On The Line' Without Pay."

The governor included a screenshot of a conversation with Grok – the social media platform's Artificial AI bot – where he asked, "Which party currently has control of the US government?"

The bot responded by explaining that since September 2024, Republicans have held a "trifecta," maintaining control of all three branches of the federal government.

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"Sad to see Grok is smarter than the White House," Newsom joked in his post.

The politician's dig comes as the Trump administration clashes with congressional Democrats over federal funding ahead of a fiscal deadline of midnight on September 30.

Last week, Senate Democrats rejected a stopgap funding bill hurriedly passed by the Republican-controlled Congress seeking to avert a shutdown, which led Trump and his allies to blame Democrats for being unreasonable in their negotiations.

Critics have argued that, as Republicans have control of the government, it is within their power and responsibility to avoid a shutdown, and if they fail to do so, the blame should fall on them.

If the shutdown happens, the salaries for law enforcement employees will be suspended, but the Trump administration has warned of mass layoffs that would go beyond the usual temporary furloughs.