Some Republican lawmakers distanced themselves on Monday from House Speaker Mike Johnson's suggestion that federal disaster aid to California should be conditioned.
Newsweek reached out to a spokesperson for Johnson for comment via email.
The Context
Johnson, Republicans and even some Democrats have sharply criticized Democratic leaders in California over their response to a series of wildfires that have been ravaging Los Angeles and its surrounding areas since last week.
"I think we've got to have a serious conversation about that," Johnson told reporters earlier Monday.
"Obviously, there has been water resource mismanagement ... mistakes, all sorts of problems," he said. "And it does come down to leadership and it appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty in many respects. So that's something that has to be factored in. I think there should probably be conditions on that aid."
What To Know
Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, whose state was hit with catastrophic flooding after Hurricane Helene last year, pushed back on the idea of conditioning federal disaster aid.
"I would ask those folks to put themselves in the same position as people [in] western North Carolina," Willis told HuffPost's Igor Bobic. "You got to be consistent on disaster supplement, period."
Florida Senator Rick Scott echoed that sentiment, telling Bobic: "I think we ought to do aid the way we do everybody else."
But some Republicans appeared to support Johnson's comments, including Louisiana Senator John Kennedy.
"When we got aid for Katrina, we had plenty of conditions ... If there was a policy that thwarted our efforts to contain these fires, that ought to be changed," he said, according to Bobic.
Several devastating wildfires are raging across Southern California and have been exacerbated by severe windstorms that fanned the flames and made the fires difficult to contain since they erupted last week.
The Palisades fire has engulfed 23,713 acres and is the most destructive fire in LA's history. The Eaton fire erupted in Altadena shortly after the Palisades fire and has burned 14,117 acres.
At least 24 people have died as a result of the fires, officials said, adding that 12,000 structures have been destroyed.
As of Monday evening, the Palisades fire is 14 percent contained and the Eaton fire is 33 percent contained. The Hurst fire, which also broke out last week, covers 799 acres and is 95 percent contained.
Mandatory evacuation orders are still in place for several Los Angeles neighborhoods because of the Palisades fire.
What People Are Saying
Democratic Representative Jared Moskowitz warned that if Republicans move to condition aid to California, they could pay a price down the road, telling Axios: "This place is like high school, it's tit for tat when one side breaks a norm. The other side is happy to return the favor."
California Representative Pete Aguilar, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told Axios: Conditioning aid to California is "crazy and ridiculous" and would "completely upend Congress."
President Joe Biden said the White House remains "laser focused" on helping survivors and offered condolences to the families of those who have died: "Our hearts ache for the 24 innocent souls we have lost in the wildfires across Los Angeles. Jill and I pray for them and their loved ones."
More than 124,000 people have signed a Change.org petition demanding that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass resign as she and Governor Gavin Newsom face mounting criticism over the state and city's fire response: "We, the undersigned residents of Los Angeles and concerned citizens, urgently call for the immediate recall of Mayor Karen Bass due to her gross mismanagement and failure to effectively respond to the devastating 2025 fires in and around the city of Los Angeles," the petition said.
What Happens Next
There is a red flag warning in place for parts of Los Angeles and the NWS forecasts wind gusts of up to 70mph between 4 a.m. Tuesday and noon Wednesday, which could lead to "explosive fire growth."
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