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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is supporting placing conditions on California’s disaster assistance in the wake of the destructive wildfires raging in the Los Angeles area, a position that is already generating l ‘opposition of the Democrats.
Speaking to reporters at the Capitol on Monday, Johnson criticized California’s water resources and forest management, placing the blame squarely in the hands of state and local leaders.
“I think we need to have a serious conversation about this,” Johnson said when asked about the terms of the aid. “Obviously there has been poor management of water resources, mistakes in forest management, all kinds of problems. And it comes down to leadership, and it seems to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty in many ways. So that’s something to be aware of.”
“I think there should probably be conditions for this help. This is my personal opinion, we’ll see what the consensus is,” he added. “I haven’t had the opportunity to socialize it with any of the members during the of the week because we’ve all been very busy, but I’m sure it will be part of the discussion.”
President-elect Trump and the Republicans he blamed the leaders of California over the lack of available water supplies last week, accusing Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) of blocking efforts to pump water from Northern California to the Los Angeles area. But experts maintain that doing so would have been impractical.
The president also confirmed that there are talks about combining California’s disaster aid with an increase in the debt limit, a prospect that Republicans discussed with Trump during a meeting at his Mar-a estate -Lago during the weekend.
“There’s a little bit of discussion about that, but we’ll see where it goes,” Johnson said when asked about combining the two priorities.
Johnson did not say what kind of conditions he would like to see placed on California’s disaster aid, but the idea is already drawing opposition among Democrats, with a warning that the move could push a Democratic majority to do the same in the future.
“This is a mistake,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) wrote on the social platform X. “If you start this, it will never end. When the Dems take back the House, they will condition aid to Florida and Texas. Disaster relief should be nonpartisan. I would fight the Democrats if they tried to do that. The speaker can find many other ways to hold people accountable.”
It’s not yet clear when Congress will begin the process to consider disaster aid, as fires in California are still burning, the price of that package is unknown, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA) has said it has enough money at this time. to respond to various disasters, including wildfires, in the near future. Congress approved more than $100 billion in emergency aid in December.
The push that’s coming, though, already seems to be taking a political turnas officials write what caused the wildfires. Trump, for example, has called for Newsom’s resignation and blames him for the wildfires.
“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week. “It’s ash, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!”
