Cracks Emerge in House GOP Over CA Aid 01/23 06:30

   

   LOS ANGELES (AP) -- California Republicans are pushing back against 
suggestions by President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other 
Republicans that federal disaster aid for victims of wildfires that ravaged 
Southern California should come with strings attached, possibly jeopardizing 
the president's policy agenda in a deeply divided Congress at the outset of his 
second term.

   With Trump planning to visit the fire-ravaged state this week, resistance 
from even a few House members to his efforts to put conditions on disaster aid 
could further complicate an already fraught relationship between reliably 
liberal California and the second Trump administration.

   Several Republicans who narrowly won California House seats in November have 
expressed dismay that the state relief could be hitched to demands in exchange 
for helping the thousands of Californians in their districts still reeling from 
this month's disaster.

   "Playing politics with people's livelihoods is unacceptable and a slap in 
the face to the Southern California wildfire victims and to our brave first 
responders," Republican Rep. Young Kim, whose closely divided district is 
anchored in fire-prone Orange County, southeast of Los Angeles, said in a 
statement.

   In an interview aired Wednesday night, Trump said he may withhold aid to 
California until the state adjusts how it manages its scarce water resources. 
He falsely claimed that California's fish conservation efforts in the northern 
part of the state are responsible for fire hydrants running dry in urban areas.

   "I don't think we should give California anything until they let the water 
run down," Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity.

   Local officials have said the conservation efforts for the delta smelt had 
nothing to do with the hydrants running dry as firefighters tried to contain 
blazes around Los Angeles. They said intense demand on a municipal system not 
designed to battle such blazes was to blame.

   The wind-driven firestorms wiped out whole neighborhoods of Los Angeles 
County, left thousands homeless and killed more than two dozen people.

   Trump said earlier this week that discussions are underway in the White 
House to bring more water to perennially parched Los Angeles, alluding to 
rainfall runoff lost to the Pacific and the state's vast water storage and 
delivery system.

   "Los Angeles has massive amounts of water available to it. All they have to 
do is turn the valve," the president said.

   California has long been a favorite target of Trump, who also referred to 
the fires in his inaugural address Monday. In LA, he said, "we are watching 
fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense."

   "That's going to change."

   Trump has made no mention of the multinational firefighting force deployed 
to contend with multiple blazes. Firefighters were gaining ground on the two 
major fires Wednesday when a third blaze broke out north of Los Angeles and 
quickly burned through hundreds of acres of dry brush.

   Johnson, a Louisiana Republican echoing Trump's complaints, has said there 
are "serious" problems in how the state is managed. Those include insufficient 
funding for forestry programs and water storage. He also noted the public 
dispute between the LA fire chief and City Hall over budget cuts.

   Johnson said Wednesday that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles 
Mayor Karen Bass did not prepare the state or the city for what was to come. He 
particularly cited a 117-million-gallon reservoir left unfilled for nearly a 
year. Newsom has called for an independent investigation of the reservoir.

   Bass didn't directly respond to a question about possible conditions on 
disaster aid, saying in a statement: "Our work with our federal partners will 
be based on direct conversations with them about how we can work together."

   Some Republicans have suggested that the congressional relief package could 
become entangled with efforts to raise the nation's debt limit -- and with the 
House so closely divided, even a few breakaway votes from either party could 
alter the outcome.

   That leaves GOP lawmakers from California in a political quandary: whether 
to forcefully stand up for their home state, often pilloried by the GOP as 
representing all that is wrong with America, while Republicans in Congress are 
eager to show a unified front and parlay their November election wins into what 
Trump has called a new "golden age" for the nation.

   Several California representatives agreed that the federal government must 
guard against the misuse of funds but argued that the money should not be held 
up or saddled with restrictions not placed on other states after tornadoes and 
hurricanes.

   The dilemma played out in social media posts by Republican Rep. Ken Calvert, 
who narrowly prevailed in November in his swing district east of Los Angeles.

   "Californians are entitled to receive federal disaster assistance in the 
same manner as all Americans," he wrote on X. But, he quickly added, "Some 
federal policy changes may be needed to expedite rebuilding as well as improve 
future wildfire prevention. Those kind of policies are not conditions."

   Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley, whose sprawling district runs from east of 
Sacramento south to Death Valley, told KCRA-TV in Sacramento last week that 
Johnson's use of the word conditions was not "especially helpful." Speaking at 
the Capitol Wednesday, he said there is a lot of ambiguity about what 
constitutes conditions for disaster aid.

   He said his focus is to make sure the money doesn't get wasted through 
government inefficiency.

   "We want to make sure the money actually gets to the victims and they can 
use it to rebuild their homes and to recover," Kiley said.

   Politicians in Washington have feuded for years over how to restrain the 
growing wildfire threat across the West. Republicans have long complained that 
inadequate land management practices have exacerbated damage from wildfires, 
while Democrats have emphasized the role of climate change and the failure of 
the federal government to address it.

   About the only thing they agree on is that the problem persists.

   Some lawmakers have noted that disaster aid over the years for Johnson's 
home state of Louisiana did not come with conditions. Democratic leader Hakeem 
Jeffries called the idea a "non-starter."

   Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, whose largely rural district runs from the 
Sacramento area north to the Oregon border, said he wasn't too concerned about 
talk of conditions.

   "Everything has conditions, especially the way California wastes money," 
LaMalfa said. "We want to help people and we want to help with that, like we've 
helped with others. But California is very, very irresponsible."

   Trump plans to visit the state to see the damage firsthand on Friday. Newsom 
hasn't said publicly if he'll accompany him on his tour.

   With the fragile GOP majority in the House -- there are 219 Republicans, 214 
Democrats and one vacancy -- Johnson cannot afford defections on any vote. And 
it could be several weeks before a fuller accounting of the state's recovery 
needs is ready and a formal request submitted to the White House.

   Following major natural disasters, the president typically makes 
supplemental spending requests, as happened after hurricanes Helene and Milton.

   Congress also could provide more disaster aid to California through 
legislation. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Republican chairman of the Senate Budget 
Committee, said he would work to include disaster aid in a filibuster-proof 
bill Republicans hope to craft this year that would pay for some of Trump's top 
policy priorities.

   Newsom urged Johnson and other congressional leaders to quickly approve 
assistance for the state, where fires are still burning and strong winds 
continue to threaten new ones. In an email to supporters from his campaign 
committee, he warned that "Republicans are holding federal aid hostage" and 
said Democrats might be able to peel off a handful of GOP votes to push through 
an aid package.

   "In times of natural disaster -- from Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Helene 
-- Americans have always stood together, setting aside politics to extend a 
helping hand to those in need," the governor wrote. "Historically, federal 
disaster aid has been provided without conditions."