California Governor Gavin Newsom has been asking Congress — controlled by Republicans — for months to release $40 billion in federal aid to rebuild schools, hospitals, churches and homes destroyed by the fires in Los Angeles. However, the request, submitted in late February, is still stalled.
According to the Washington Post, President Donald Trump and other Republican Party figures accuse California Democrats of mishandling the fire emergency and are demanding political concessions, such as stricter voter ID laws, in exchange for the funds. Hours before a meeting with Newsom, Trump had even threatened to block all federal funding to the state if these conditions were not agreed to.
During and after the meeting, Trump continued to attack Newsom, calling him and local officials “incompetent.”
Meanwhile, for Texas the situation has been very different. Also according to the Washington Post, Trump quickly and unconditionally released federal aid following severe flooding in the state. This attitude has raised accusations of double standards, with the president accused of using natural disasters for political purposes, rewarding allied states and penalizing those led by adversaries.
Newsom reiterated that disaster assistance should not be politicized. He pointed out that other states-including Texas itself-also have requests for funds pending and that the federal government should treat all emergencies equally.
Meanwhile, the federal debris removal program has already resulted in the clearing of more than 9,100 of the nearly 9,900 properties affected by the fires. The figure does not include commercial buildings or the approximately 2,000 property owners who chose private contractors.
