House Democrats are warning Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) that tying federal wildfire relief for California to the debt limit could set a new precedent that would come back to bite Republicans.
Why it matters: Disaster prone red states like Florida and Louisiana — Johnson’s home state — could face a similar squeeze from Democrats if they retake the House, lawmakers told 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,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), pointing to the removal of members from committees as an example.
- If Johnson conditions the aid, Moskowitz said, “California’s our largest delegation. You think they’re going to forget about that?”
Driving the news: Johnson told reporters Monday that, “I think that there should probably be conditions on that aid. That’s my personal view.”
- “We’ll see what the consensus is. I haven’t had a chance to socialize that with any of the members over the weekend, because we’ve all been very busy. But it will be part of the discussion for sure,” he said.
- It’s not clear yet whether the idea has full support among Republicans, with centrist Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) telling Axios “that process will play itself out.”
- “We want to provide relief to Americans who were impacted by natural disasters of any kind,” he said, but California’s “disastrous policy decisions … will be part of a discussion.”
What they’re saying: “I just think it’s a really bad precedent, and, yeah, I do think it could have slingshot effects,” Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) told Axios in a brief interview at the Capitol.
- “Whether it’s wildfires in CA, or hurricanes and tornadoes in Louisiana, we should should never condition aid to disaster victims,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) told Axios, also warning that the move would set a “really dangerous precedent.”
- House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said conditioning aid would be “crazy and ridiculous” and would “completely upend Congress.”
Between the lines: Lawmakers in both parties told Axios that Johnson’s gambit is a clear acknowledgement that both disaster aid and the debt ceiling will require Democratic votes to pass.
- Republicans have floated including a debt ceiling increase in the massive party-line fiscal bill they’re planning, but that risks touching off a right-wing revolt.
- “It’s not the issue of conditioning, it’s the issue of how do we get it done,” said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a top House Appropriations Committee member who acknowledged both measures will “probably” need bipartisan support.
Zoom in: Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), whose district has been directly hit by the wildfires, said it would “obviously be outrageous and unthinkable for Republicans to react differently to a disaster based upon how people voted.”
- Sherman said he is “not for” conditioning future aid to red states on a partisan objective — offering an immigration reform package as an example.
- But “if Democrats tied Louisiana relief to making sure Social Security stayed solvent, that’s a bipartisan objective,” he said.
- The idea of conditioning aid may also lack universal GOP support, with Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) telling Axios in a statement: “If aid is needed, we need to deliver.”
The bottom line: “People have lost their lives, homes, and livelihoods,” said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), whose district has also been impacted by the wildfires.
- “I have zero tolerance for partisan bullsh*t right now.”
