Newsom orders California state agencies to start clearing homeless encampments

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered state agencies Thursday to start removing homeless encampments on state land in his boldest action yet following a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces.

This executive order directs state agencies “to move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them." It also provides guidance for cities and counties to do the same, which applies pressure on them, though they are not legally bound to the order.

California is home to roughly one-third of the nation’s population of homeless people, a problem that has dogged Newsom since he took office. There are thousands of tents and makeshift shelters across the state that line freeways, and fill parking lots and public parks.

Under Newsom’s direction, state agencies — including state parks and the department of transportation — would be required to prioritize clearing encampments that pose safety risks, such as those along waterways. Officials should give “reasonable” advance notice to homeless people, offer to connect them to local services and help store their belongings for at least 60 days. Local cities and counties are urged to adopt similar protocols.

Last month the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that said governments could not force people to leave encampments if there weren't any shelter beds available. The case was the most significant on the problem to come before the high court in decades. Cities across the country have been wrestling with the politically complicated task of how to deal with a rising number of people without a permanent place to live and public frustration over related health and safety issues.

Newsom's administration wrote in support of cities' arguments that previous rulings, including one that barred San Francisco from clearing encampments, have prevented the state from solving a critical problem.

"There are simply no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part,” Newsom said in a statement Thursday.

Newsom’s decision garnered praise from some local elected officials and business groups, who said they were left with no options to address homeless encampments before the Supreme Court’s ruling. San Francisco Mayor London Breed recently said the city will start an “aggressive” campaign to clear encampments across the city in August. Her office noted that the governor’s order does not affect the city’s operations.

“I applaud Governor Newsom’s emphasis on urgency,” Kathryn Barger, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said in a statement. “He rightfully points out that local government remains at the helm of homeless encampment removals. Cities have an obligation to develop housing and shelter solutions in tandem with support services provided by County government.”

Even Republican lawmakers, who have repeatedly blasted Newsom over his handling of the crisis, are rallying behind the order Thursday.

“It’s about damn time! Letting people live and die on the streets or in our parks is unsafe and unsanitary,” Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones said in a statement. He added, ”I am cautiously optimistic that the governor has finally taken note of the urgency of this problem, albeit many years later than needed.”

Homeless people and advocates say the sweeps are cruel and a waste of taxpayer money. They say the answer is more housing, not crackdowns.

“You get your highway off-ramp clean for a moment only,” Democratic Assemblymember Alex Lee said on social media. “Without meaningful services and housing, all sweeps do is making a prominent inequality less visible.”

While Newsom cannot order local authorities to act, his administration can apply pressure by withholding money for counties and cities. In 2022, he threatened to withhold $1 billion in homelessness spending from local governments over the lack of progress.

Newsom touted that his administration has spent roughly $24 billion cleaning up streets and housing people but acknowledged the persistent issue. Newsom’s administration has also come under fire recently after a state audit found that the state didn’t consistently track whether the huge amount of public money spent on this actually improved the situation.

Earlier this year, Newsom threw all of his political weight behind a ballot measure to allow the state to borrow nearly $6.4 billion to build 4,350 housing units, which passed with a razor-thin margin.

The order comes as Republicans have stepped up their criticisms of Vice President Kamala Harris — a former California district attorney, attorney general and senator who just launched her presidential campaign. Harris entered the race over the weekend after President Joe Biden’s announced that he would not seek reelection.

Newsom himself has presidential ambitions, though he's said he wouldn't run against Harris or Biden. He has long been a top Biden campaign surrogate.

The timing of the executive order is “curious” given recent developments in the 2024 presidential race, California political analyst Brian Sobel said. He doubts though that Newsom's move would have much impact on Harris' campaign.

“Harris' problem isn't in California, because California is a done deal,” he said. “Where she needs to do well on issues like this are in swing states.”

Rather, the order is a logical step for Newsom, who called himself the state's “homeless czar," said Wesley Hussey, a political science professor at California State University, Sacramento.

“I don’t think it’s being motivated by the presidential race as much as it’s definitely something that Newsom cared a lot about,” Hussey said. “If you’re going to put it in a political context of the election, this isn’t going to magically fix the problem.”

Tents are setup on a sidewalk, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Thursday to direct state agencies on how to remove homeless encampments, a month after a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A person walks past a homeless encampment Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Thursday to direct state agencies on how to remove homeless encampments, a month after a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Tents are set up at an encampment Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Thursday to direct state agencies on how to remove homeless encampments, a month after a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A homeless encampment is seen Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Thursday, July 25, to direct state agencies on how to remove homeless encampments, a month after a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Two men work and stand on a sidewalk on Skid Row, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Thursday to direct state agencies on how to remove homeless encampments, a month after a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Tents are lined up on Skid Row Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Thursday to direct state agencies on how to remove homeless encampments, a month after a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

FILE - Tents are set up outside of Emmanuel Baptist Rescue Mission on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Thursday, July 25, for the removal of homeless encampments in the state. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom helps clean a homeless encampment alongside a freeway, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022, in San Diego. Newsom issued an executive order Thursday, July 25, 2024, for the removal of homeless encampments in the state. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom, center, helps clean a homeless encampment alongside a freeway on Jan. 12, 2022, in San Diego. Newsom issued an executive order Thursday, July 25, 2024, for the removal of homeless encampments in the state. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

FILE - Michael Johnson gathers possessions to take before a homeless encampment was cleaned up in San Francisco, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Thursday, July 25, 2024, for the removal of homeless encampments in the state. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom greets people, July 8, 2024, near the Common Man Roadside Market and Deli, in Hooksett, N.H. Newsom issued an executive order Thursday, July 25, for the removal of homeless encampments in his state. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Boeing’s first astronaut mission ended Friday night with an empty capsule landing and two test pilots still in space, left behind until next year because NASA judged their return too risky.

Six hours after departing the International Space Station, Starliner parachuted into New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range, descending on autopilot through the desert darkness.

It was an uneventful close to a drama that began with the June launch of Boeing's long-delayed crew debut and quickly escalated into a dragged-out cliffhanger of a mission stricken by thruster failures and helium leaks. For months, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams’ return was in question as engineers struggled to understand the capsule’s problems.

Boeing insisted after extensive testing that Starliner was safe to bring the two home, but NASA disagreed and booked a flight with SpaceX instead. Their SpaceX ride won’t launch until the end of this month, which means they’ll be up there until February — more than eight months after blasting off on what should have been a quick trip.

Wilmore and Williams should have flown Starliner back to Earth by mid-June, a week after launching in it. But their ride to the space station was marred by the cascade of thruster trouble and helium loss, and NASA ultimately decided it was too risky to return them on Starliner.

So with fresh software updates, the fully automated capsule left with their empty seats and blue spacesuits along with some old station equipment.

“She’s on her way home,” Williams radioed as the white and blue-trimmed capsule undocked from the space station 260 miles (420 kilometers) over China and disappeared into the black void.

Williams stayed up late to see how everything turned out. “A good landing, pretty awesome,” said Boeing's Mission Control.

Cameras on the space station and a pair of NASA planes caught the capsule as a white streak coming in for the touchdown, which drew cheer.

There were some snags during reentry, including more thruster issues, but Starliner made a “bull’s-eye landing,” said NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich.

Even with the safe return, “I think we made the right decision not to have Butch and Suni on board,” Stich said at a news conference early Saturday. “All of us feel happy about the successful landing. But then there's a piece of us, all of us, that we wish it would have been the way we had planned it.”

Boeing did not participate in the Houston news briefing. But two of the company's top space and defense officials, Ted Colbert and Kay Sears, told employees in a note that they backed NASA's ruling.

"While this may not have been how we originally envisioned the test flight concluding, we support NASA’s decision for Starliner and are proud of how our team and spacecraft performed," the executives wrote.

Starliner’s crew demo capped a journey filled with delays and setbacks. After the space shuttles retired more than a decade ago, NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX for orbital taxi service. Boeing ran into so many problems on its first test flight with no one aboard in 2019 that it had to repeat it. The 2022 do-over uncovered even more flaws and the repair bill topped $1 billion.

SpaceX’s crew ferry flight later this month will be its 10th for NASA since 2020. The Dragon capsule will launch on the half-year expedition with only two astronauts since two seats are reserved for Wilmore and Williams for the return leg.

As veteran astronauts and retired Navy captains, Wilmore and Williams anticipated hurdles on the test flight. They’ve kept busy in space, helping with repairs and experiments. The two are now full-time station crew members along with the seven others on board.

Even before the pair launched on June 5 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Starliner’s propulsion system was leaking helium. The leak was small and thought to be isolated, but four more cropped up after liftoff. Then five thrusters failed. Although four of the thrusters were recovered, it gave NASA pause as to whether more malfunctions might hamper the capsule’s descent from orbit.

Boeing conducted numerous thruster tests in space and on the ground over the summer, and was convinced its spacecraft could safely bring the astronauts back. But NASA could not get comfortable with the thruster situation and went with SpaceX.

Flight controllers conducted more test firings of the capsule’s thrusters following undocking; one failed to ignite. Engineers suspect the more the thrusters are fired, the hotter they become, causing protective seals to swell and obstruct the flow of propellant. They won’t be able to examine any of the parts; the section holding the thrusters was ditched just before reentry.

Starliner will be transported in a couple weeks back to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where the analyses will unfold.

NASA officials stressed that the space agency remains committed to having two competing U.S. companies transporting astronauts. The goal is for SpaceX and Boeing to take turns launching crews — one a year per company — until the space station is abandoned in 2030 right before its fiery reentry. That doesn’t give Boeing much time to catch up, but the company intends to push forward with Starliner, according to NASA.

Stich said post-landing it’s too early to know when the next Starliner flight with astronauts might occur.

“It will take a little time to determine the path forward," he said.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The empty Boeing Starliner capsule sits at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, late Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, after undocking from the International Space Station. (Boeing via AP)

In this image from video provided by NASA, the empty Boeing Starliner capsule jettisons its heat shield, bottom, before touching down at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico late Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, after undocking from the International Space Station. (NASA via AP)

In this image from video provided by NASA, the empty Boeing Starliner capsule floats down towards White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico late Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, after undocking from the International Space Station. (NASA via AP)

In this image from video provided by NASA, the empty Boeing Starliner capsule touches down at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico late Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, after undocking from the International Space Station. (NASA via AP)

In this image from video provided by NASA, the unmanned Boeing Starliner capsule undocks as it pulls away from the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (NASA via AP)

In this image from video provided by NASA, the unmanned Boeing Starliner capsule fires its thrusters as it pulls away from the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (NASA via AP)

In this photo provided by NASA, astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams inspect safety hardware aboard the International Space Station on Aug. 9, 2024. (NASA via AP)