Gov. Gavin Newsom applauds on stage during a public event.No-Bid Diaper Deal Tied to Newsom Allies Draws Scrutiny
Left says
- •The budget exemption allowing the state to bypass competitive bidding was legal, and no records reviewed show illegal conduct, suggesting the process followed rules set by lawmakers even if the optics are troubling
- •Newsom's team maintains the RFI process was competitive in spirit, with 15 applicants evaluated on cost, infrastructure and other factors before Baby2Baby was chosen
- •Newsom has voluntarily released years of detailed tax returns and blasted the DOJ investigations into his family as politically motivated, framing scrutiny of his finances as part of a broader partisan attack ahead of a possible 2028 run
- •The underlying goal of the diaper program is to provide a tangible benefit to new parents statewide, and cost estimates now show it running closer to 18.5 cents per diaper rather than the inflated 50-cent figure critics circulated
Right says
- •The governor publicly claimed the diaper deal 'went through a competitive bidding process,' but the state's own contract database labels it 'NON-COMPETITIVELY BID,' and the governing document says it was 'Not a Solicitation'
- •State staff and applicants warned that Baby2Baby's plan to send home a fixed 400 diapers in only two sizes, with no exchange option, could lead to significant taxpayer-funded waste, yet the state chose that design over a rival finalist offering more sizes and a direct-to-consumer alternative
- •Baby2Baby's leadership has widely reported personal ties to Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, raising questions about favoritism in steering a $6.2 million no-bid contract to an organization with insider connections
- •The administration delayed releasing public records for 66 days and initially disputed CBS's reporting as 'demonstrably false,' even though the state's own database, deadlines and budget bills back up the original reporting
- •This no-bid arrangement is part of a larger pattern, with more than two dozen similar exemptions worth over $1 billion tucked into California's budget, most of them hidden from public no-bid contract databases and never expiring
Common Take
High Consensus- The $6.2 million Baby2Baby contract was awarded without a traditional competitive bidding process, a fact confirmed by the state's own contract database.
- State staff and at least one rival applicant raised concerns that distributing a fixed batch of diapers in limited sizes could lead to waste.
- Baby2Baby has documented ties to Gov. Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom that predate this contract.
- The state took significant time, well beyond standard public records deadlines, before releasing records related to the contract.
The Arguments
Right argues
Newsom publicly claimed the diaper deal 'went through a competitive bidding process,' but the state's own contract database labels it 'NON-COMPETITIVELY BID' and the governing document explicitly says 'Not a Solicitation,' meaning his public characterization directly contradicts the state's own records.
Left counters
The administration argues 'competitive' was meant descriptively, since 15 applicants were evaluated on cost, infrastructure and other factors, and no records reviewed show the underlying selection process was illegal or that rules were broken.
Left argues
CBS's own review of all 356 pages found nothing revealing illegal conduct, and the budget exemption allowing the no-bid process was legally added by lawmakers, meaning the state operated within a framework it was legally permitted to use.
Right counters
Legality isn't the same as legitimacy; the fact that this and two dozen other billion-dollar exemptions are deliberately hidden from public no-bid databases and never expire suggests lawmakers built a system designed to evade scrutiny rather than ensure accountability.
Right argues
State staff and a rival finalist explicitly warned that Baby2Baby's fixed 400-diaper, two-size, no-exchange model could waste taxpayer funds, yet the state chose that design over a competitor offering more sizes and a direct-to-consumer option, raising real questions about why warnings were ignored.
Left counters
Program design tradeoffs are common in government logistics, and choosing an established distributor with existing hospital infrastructure can be a reasonable, defensible choice even if it wasn't the option that best addressed the waste concerns.
Left argues
Newsom has voluntarily released years of detailed tax returns and framed the DOJ investigation into his family as politically motivated, positioning himself as transparent about his finances even as he faces scrutiny ahead of a possible 2028 run.
Right counters
Voluntary tax transparency doesn't address the specific allegation at hand — favoritism in steering a no-bid contract to an organization with reported personal ties to Newsom and the First Partner — and doesn't explain the 66-day delay in releasing the diaper contract records themselves.
Right argues
The administration delayed record releases for 66 days, initially disputed CBS's reporting as 'demonstrably false,' yet the state's own database, deadlines and budget bills ultimately corroborated the original reporting, suggesting an attempt to control the narrative rather than transparently engage with legitimate fact-checking.
Left counters
Determining what's disclosable under the Public Records Act legitimately takes review time, and disputing specific characterizations in a story isn't the same as concealing wrongdoing, especially when corrected details were incorporated where the record supported them.
Challenge Questions
These questions target genuine internal contradictions — meant to provoke honest reflection.
Right asks Left
“If the state's own contract database explicitly labels the deal 'NON-COMPETITIVELY BID' and the governing document says 'Not a Solicitation,' on what basis can the governor's on-camera claim of a 'competitive bidding process' be defended as merely a matter of tone rather than a factual misstatement?”
Left asks Right
“If the concern is genuinely about waste, favoritism, and process integrity rather than partisan opposition to Newsom, why does the criticism focus almost exclusively on this single contract rather than the two dozen other billion-dollar no-bid exemptions—including a $253 million opioid fund—that raise identical transparency concerns?”
Outlier Report
Left Fringe
Progressive Newsom defenders and California Democratic operatives (e.g., some state party spokespeople) who dismiss the story entirely as a right-wing smear tied to DOJ investigations; likely represents about 15-20% of the left, mostly strong partisans invested in protecting a potential 2028 candidate.
Right Fringe
Commentators like those amplifying the debunked '50-cents-per-diaper' viral claims, and figures such as some conservative X accounts framing this as outright corruption or a criminal scandal despite CBS's own finding of no illegal conduct; this likely represents 20-25% of the right who exaggerate the story beyond what the facts support.
Noise Assessment
Moderate-to-high; the core facts (non-competitive bidding label, insider ties, record delays) are well-documented and not particularly partisan, but social media amplification on both sides—defenders calling it 'nothing' and critics calling it 'corruption'—exceeds what the underlying facts actually establish.
Sources (7)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office has released tax returns showing he and his wife made between $1.7 million and $2 million annually from 2022 through 2024
CBS California Investigates reviewed 356 pages of state records behind California's $6.2 million diaper contract with Baby2Baby. Here is what they show.
Gov. Newsom's office says the no-bid deal was "competitive," the records weren't delayed, and our reporting is false. The state's own database, deadlines, and the Legislature's budget bills say otherwise. Here's the point-by-point review.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said the $6.2 million Baby2Baby contract "went through a competitive bidding process." State records reveal it didn't. CBS California Investigates found dozens of similar no-bid deals in the state budget worth over $1 billion.
The Newsom administration waited 24 days to decide if it would even let Californians see the multi-million-dollar contract with Baby2Baby, a nonprofit linked to First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
A CBS News California fact-check found the state's free diaper program won't cost taxpayers 50 cents per diaper, as viral posts claimed. But the Newsom administration still won't release the Baby2Baby contract or competitive bid records amid concerns free diapers could go to waste.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife made between $1.7 million and $2 million annually from 2022 through 2024, and they paid about half a million a year in federal and state taxes, according to tax returns released by his office.