House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he “won’t commit” to providing aid without conditions to the flame-engulfed region of Los Angeles County.
Johnson and other Republicans have been considering leveraging California’s need for aid and relief to advance political agendas as the fires rage on. On Sunday’s episode of “Meet the Press,” host Kristen Welker asked Johnson if he could commit to not binding California disaster relief to conditions, such as increasing the debt limit.
“No, I won’t commit that because we have a serious problem in California,” Johnson said. “Listen, there are natural disasters. I’m from Louisiana, we’re prone to that. We understand how these things work. But then there’s also human error, and when the state and local officials make foolish policy decisions that make the disaster exponentially worse, we need to factor that in, and I think that’s a common sense notion.”
But California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has called for expedited aid with no “strings attached” multiple times.
Newsom and Johnson engaged in a public back-and-forth online earlier this week after Newsom appeared on a podcast again calling for unconditional relief.
“Instead of making highly produced clap back videos with social media influencers, you should get to work helping Californians,” Johnson said. “You’re the leader of a state in crisis, and you should finally start acting like it.”
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Newsom responded, “Mr. Speaker, when Louisianans need help after hurricanes, it’s Californians ― many of whom have been impacted by these fires ― who foot the bill to help your constituents. And they do it without playing partisan games. Millions of your supporters are out here, and they need your help, empathy, care and whatever compassion you are willing to express. Do the right thing.”
The Southern California fires have killed at least 27 people and destroyed at least 13,600 structures, according to NBC News on Friday. Newsom said in a previous “Meet The Press” episode that the disaster, which is still ongoing, could be the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.