Wildfire-ravaged California should not receive a blank check from the federal government for emergency aid, House Speaker Mike Johnson declared Monday.
“I think we’ve got to have a serious conversation about that,” Johnson (R-La.) told reporters as the House returned to work following a three-day weekend.
“Obviously, there has been water resource mismanagement. Forest management mistakes — all sorts of problems. And it does come down to leadership,” the speaker explained.
“It appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty in many respects. So that’s something that has to be factored in. I think there should probably be conditions on that aid. That’s my personal view. I haven’t seen what the consensus is.”
Currently, Congress has no concrete plans for whether or how to provide supplemental assistance to the Golden State in the wake of half a dozen blazes that have killed at least 24 people, destroyed thousands of structures and caused billions of dollars in damage.
Over the weekend, some two dozen Republicans dined with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago and discussed the possibility of tying supplemental wildfire aid to an increase in the debt ceiling ahead of an expected June deadline to avert default, Politico reported.
Johnson confirmed Monday that there has been “some discussion” about tying additional aid to a debt limit increase.
Scores of Republicans have faulted California’s all-Democratic leadership for failures ahead of the wildfires, including a cut to the Los Angeles Fire Department’s budget of $17.6 million for this current fiscal year by Mayor Karen Bass.
Over the weekend, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) also predicted that there would be “strings attached” for any additional aid.
“I expect that there will be strings attached to money that is ultimately approved, and it has to do with being ready the next time, because this was a gross failure,” Barrasso told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
“It’s heartbreaking to hear the fire chief say that they’ve diverted all of this money away from the fire department to be used for social programs, when they were already stretched too thin,” Barrasso bemoaned.
“I expect there’s going to be hearings, there’s going to be requests of Congress. There can’t be a blank check on this,” Barrasso added. “These sorts of things can’t happen again. And the policies of the liberal administration out there, I believe have made these fires worse.”
Lawmakers may also be inclined to wait for firmer estimates of the total devastation from the wildfires.
President Biden has already approved a major disaster declaration for California and vowed to provide federal grants for the beleaguered state.
Meanwhile, Trump, 78, has demanded that Newsom tender his resignation as governor. Newsom, 57, has responded by first accusing Trump of politicizing the disaster before inviting the president-elect to come to California to see the devastation for himself.
The incoming president has accused California leaders of failing to adequately save water and clean up dry debris in the state’s forests, which have functioned as kindling for devastating fires in the past.
