House Speaker Mike Johnson stated that the alleged shortcomings of state and local leaders should influence any conditions placed on federal assistance.
WASHINGTON—On January 13, House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated that any disaster relief funding from Congress in response to the recent wildfires in Los Angeles may include specific policy conditions.
The wildfires, which ignited on January 7 in a backdrop of low humidity and strong winds, have impacted more than
40,000 acres in Los Angeles County—most significantly in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles, Altadena, and Malibu—resulting in at least 24 fatalities as of this report.
President Joe Biden
declared a disaster on January 8, granting victims access to funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and his departing administration has committed to aiding relief efforts. However, larger recovery funds will require Congressional approval, and Johnson emphasized that conditions would be necessary.
“I believe there should likely be conditions on that aid. That’s my personal opinion. We’ll see what the general agreement is,” Johnson
told CNN’s Manu Raju while navigating the House precincts on January 13. “That will certainly be part of the discussion,” he added, referring to the House GOP’s approach to the disaster response.
Johnson echoed the sentiments of other Republicans who have criticized California and Los Angeles leadership—both governed by Democrats—regarding their decisions prior to the wildfires, including alleged cuts to fire prevention funding and poor water management.
“Clearly, there have been issues with water resource management, forest stewardship errors, and various other problems—ultimately linked to leadership, which leads us to believe that state and local leaders have been negligent in their responsibilities in many ways. So that is an integral factor,” Johnson remarked.
President-elect Donald Trump has urged Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is speculated to run for president in 2028, to resign during this crisis.
In addition to Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has also been criticized by Republicans and some Democrats alike. When the fires erupted, she was out of the country in Ghana. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, a California native,
canceled their last foreign trips to address the
disaster response.
California’s leaders are prepared to confront certain proposed policies from the incoming administration that they oppose following Trump’s win in the 2024 presidential election, alongside the party gaining control of both chambers of the 119th Congress.
On December 2, Newsom convened a
special session of the California Legislature aimed at establishing new laws to counter the incoming Trump Administration’s policy agenda. This session resulted in the allocation of $50 million in taxpayer funds for two legal defense funds—one intended to challenge the new administration over policies impacting California and the other to protect undocumented immigrants in the state from deportation and removal, among other aims.
The governor’s office has not yet replied to a request for comment.
