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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., gave his clearest signal yet Tuesday that Republicans want conditions attached to any new federal aid appropriated to help California recover from the devastating wildfires.
“Why should people in other states and other governors and other mayors who manage their water resources, manage their forests so much better – why should they have to take care and compensate for bad decisions in California?” questioned Johnson. “I’m not saying we’re going to leave anybody out. We’re going to take care of our responsibilities. But we may need to think carefully about safeguards.”
Johnson has yet to fully outline what those conditions may be, but has admitted there have been conversations that tying a debt ceiling raise to the aid has been floated.
Democrats, especially from California, criticized Johnson for politicizing disaster aid.
“His comments are outrageous. When Mother Nature strikes, she doesn’t go, ‘hey, are you Democrat or Republican?’” said Rep. Ted Lieu, who has seen part of his district come under evacuation orders due to the fires.
“California provides more in taxes to the federal government than it gets back in services. California is subsidizing a bunch of red states. And so if you want to just look at the actual numbers, it is even more outrageous that somehow Speaker Johnson wants to punish Americans who happen to live in Southern California, including Republicans.”
“It’s unconscionable. It’s a terrible precedent. We should not be playing politics when it comes to helping those that are facing a natural disaster whose many have lost their lives, their properties, their homes, their livelihoods,” said Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif.
Rep. Pete Aguilar, the number three Democrat in the House, suggested Democrats were prepared to vote against an aid package that had strings attached.
“We will not support conditions to disaster assistance,” he said in response to a question from Spectrum News during a press conference Tuesday. “We did not put partisan conditions on Florida or Louisiana or the Carolinas when we offered aid. Partisan conditions are not helpful and will distract from the help, and more importantly, delay the help that’s necessary for the American public.”
Republican-run states from Texas to Florida have received tens of billions of dollars in hurricane recovery money over the years without any strings attached. Two Republicans from two hurricane-prone states, Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, have publicly supported aid to California with no strings attached.
But Johnson has been firm that he wants some conditions, whether it be attaching a debt ceiling raise or some other legislative priority. California Republican Jay Obernolte, when asked, said he wouldn’t call it “conditions.”
“The word I would use is vehicle. We’re going to need a vehicle to be able to get the aid passed that needs to be passed. And if that’s, with the debt ceiling or some other moving bill – that Congress has to consider,” he said, pointing out that Congress just recently replenished the FEMA disaster relief fund when it passed legislation to keep the government funded through March 14. It could be weeks before an estimate on just how much federal assistance is actually needed.
“I think we all would like to see – to make sure that Californians get the assistance that they require to get back on their feet,” said Obernolte.
But members of Obernolte’s own party have not taken such a measured tone. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told reporters Tuesday that “we’ve got to get a pound of flesh on any dollar spent on California, in my opinion,” he said.
Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., whose district was impacted last year by the Airport fire, said she has communicated to leadership the need to help those being impacted by the fires.
“Californians are already victimized and hurt by the bad policies anyway, we cannot further victimize them,” said Kim, taking a swipe at the state’s Democratic leadership.
“I am of the opinion that we get the aid to the communities that they need, [then] worry about the policies,” she added. “From the federal perspective, that should be our first priority. And I don’t agree 100% with tying this to anything other than what is the first priority right now – bring the aid, bring the resources.”
Over the next several weeks, state and local officials will come up with an estimate on how much it will cost to rebuild and recover from the fires before real negotiations on a potential supplemental aid package. Last week, outgoing President Joe Biden announced that the federal government would cover the full cost of recovery efforts – including debris removal and temporary shelters – for the first 180 days, though President-elect Donald Trump could reverse course on that promise.
Aguilar had this message for Republicans, and particularly Speaker Mike Johnson, about his “conditions” on relief for Californians.
“Representative [Luz] Rivas and I stood at an intersection in Altadena [California] and saw…two churches that had been completely burned down. I guess my question to the speaker is – what do you tell those congregants? What do you tell those community members, who will see delays because of politicizing the disaster assistance?”
