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How forest fires in California, Washington Republicans have begun debating whether to condition federal aid on changes in policies blamed for the fires.
“It’s part of the discussion right now,” Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital. “People aren’t willing to stroke a check for something that, frankly, they still have a lot of questions about. And obviously the fires are still burning, so we don’t even know what the total will be at the end of the day.”
The Los Angeles area has been battling multiple deadly wildfires in recent days, with nearly 100,000 Californians under evacuation orders.
Officials are far from knowing what the final damage estimates will be, as well as how much additional funding will need to be approved by Congress.
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Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans are debating whether to condition aid for the California wildfires. (Getty Images)
But a broad section of Republicans already are blame the policies of the Democratic bastion state and management to exacerbate the problem.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of questions about that, but we also want to work cooperatively with, you know, everybody on both sides of the aisle,” House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said when he asked her. on conditioning aids. “But I think that’s just the reality. There’s going to be some questions we’re going to ask.”
Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee’s housing and insurance subcommittee, said it was too early to discuss possible specific conditions, but criticized home insurance policies from California
“I think there are real problems … For too long, California state laws have been driving insurers out of that state, making it even harder to get home insurance,” Flood told Fox News Digital.
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“I think California needs to do a couple of things. They need to demonstrate that they’re going to create an environment where home insurance, home insurance, reflects risk, that they understand risk and price accordingly And then, in terms of forest management, I think there are many members of Congress who will want to say, “How did this happen?”
Meanwhile, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, who tend to be adamant about steep cuts to offset any extra government spending, are no different from the California wildfires.
Rep. Ralph Norman called for a “pound of meat for every dollar spent” in California (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
“It has to be more than paid for. They have to own it,” MP Ralph Norman, RS.C., told reporters. “California has never exactly been the most conservative state in terms of spending. In my opinion, we need to get a pound of meat for every dollar spent in California.”
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., who also sits on the House Appropriations Committee, told Fox News Digital: “Why are we going to keep funding the same policies that caused the problem? I mean, seriously, why what would you do?”
Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., did not explicitly rule out conditional aid, but said people needed help as soon as possible.
“California the path must be changed it addresses issues of water, forest management, and not to mention many other things. I think we absolutely must demand these changes. At the same time, people who are suffering, who have lost everything, who have lost their homes, who have lost their communities, we must help them and we must help them… as soon as possible, and not we have to leave nothing get in the way,” he said.
Not all Republicans are on board, however. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., whose own state has seen its fair share of natural disasters, told the Huffington Post, “I think we should help like we do for others.”
But the idea has gained traction with the highest levels of GOP leadership, including Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., who on Monday offered conditional disaster aid to reporters.
Rep. Kevin Kiley didn’t endorse conditional aid but didn’t rule it out either, while criticizing his home state’s progressive government. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
“It seems to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty. And in many ways, and that’s something that needs to be looked at,” Johnson said. “I think there should probably be conditions on that aid. That’s my personal opinion. We’ll see what the consensus is.”
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Democrats, meanwhile, have vehemently attacked the idea.
“Conditional help for those suffering who have paid more than their fair share of federal taxes is simply reprehensible, even to my colleagues across the aisle,” wrote Rep. Yvette Clarke, DN.Y., to X.
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters during a news conference Tuesday. “I just want to say that it’s outrageous that President Johnson is trying to tie conditions to this disaster relief or to tie disaster relief to unrelated concepts like the debt ceiling. We shouldn’t take advantage of the pain and the suffering of our fellow Americans to try force through policy changes.”
