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U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that Congress will likely provide billions in disaster aid to help California recover from devastating wildfires, but there may be conditions on that emergency funding based on policy and political differences with the Democratic-led state and the city of Los Angeles, Louisiana Illuminator reports.
“No one wants to leave any American who is in need hanging, so to speak, right?” says Johnson, a Louisiana Republican. “But at the same time, we recognize that we have a $36 trillion federal debt and we have to balance these needs. It’s about priorities.”
Johnson says he had watched footage of the fires in and around Los Angeles and acknowledged Louisiana has received significant federal disaster aid without conditions, though he says things must change.
The move to add such conditions would set a new precedent. Federal natural disaster aid historically has lacked strings, since hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and wildfires affect large swaths of the country that are represented by lawmakers from both political parties.
