Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans are discussing whether to condition aid for the California wildfires. (Getty Images)
But a broad cross-section of Republicans are already blaming the Democratic stronghold state’s policies and management for exacerbating the issue.
"I think there’s going to be a lot of questions raised about it, but we also want to work cooperatively with, you know, everybody on both sides of the aisle," House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said when asked about conditioning aid. "But I think that’s just the reality. There’s gonna be some questions we’ll be asking."
Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee’s subcommittee on housing and insurance, said it was too early to be discussing possible specific conditions but criticized California’s home insurance policies.
"I think there’s real issues… For far too long, California state laws have been pushing out insurers from that state, making it even harder to get home insurance," Flood told Fox News Digital.
POWER GRID FAULTS SURGED RIGHT BEFORE LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES BEGAN: EXPERT
"I think California’s got to do a couple of things. They have to demonstrate that they are going to create an environment where home insurance, housing insurance, is reflected in the risk, that they understand the risk, and they are pricing accordingly. And then, as it relates to forestry management, I think there’s a lot of members of Congress who will wanna say, ‘How did this happen? What kind of policies led to this?’"
Meanwhile, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, who typically are adamant about steep cuts to offset any supplemental government spending, are no different on California’s fires.
Rep. Kevin Kiley did not endorse conditioning aid but did not rule it out either, while criticizing his home state's progressive government. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
"It appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty. And in many respects, and that's something that has to be factored in," Johnson said. "I think there should probably be conditions on that aid. That's my personal view. We'll see what the consensus is."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Democrats, meanwhile, have vehemently attacked the idea.
"Conditioning aid for suffering people who have paid beyond their fair share in federal taxes is uniquely reprehensible, even for my colleagues across the aisle," Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., wrote on X.
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday. "I just want to say it is outrageous for Speaker Johnson to try to tie conditions onto this disaster relief or to tie disaster aid to unrelated concepts like the debt ceiling. We should not be leveraging the pain and suffering of our fellow Americans to try to force through policy changes."
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-wildfires-prompt-house-republican-talks-conditioning-aid-a-pound-flesh