Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) said Congress should withhold disaster relief funding from California until the state changes its environmental policies in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires.
“If they want the money, the result will be that they will have to change their policies,” he said on Fox News on Friday.
Davidson echoed President-elect Trump’s sentiments that state leaders were unprepared for the large-scale fires that often impact the region. But more than four fires spread out of control as firefighters ran out of water and manpower to extinguish the flames.
“What I mean is, we support people suffering from disasters. But we need to put pressure on the California government to change course here,” Davidson said. He criticized Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom for policies that “made the fires worse.”
“Florida is hurricane-prone, so we do a lot to mitigate the risk of hurricanes. California is fire-prone, and we take steps to make the fires worse,” he said.
In 2019, Trump challenged the preparedness of elected officials with a tweet alleging Newsom’s mismanagement.
“California Governor @GavinNewsom has done a terrible job managing our forests. From the day we first met, I told him that he needed to ‘clean up’ the forest floor, regardless of what his bosses and conservationists demanded. They must also be burned and incendiary devices cut out,” Trump wrote.
“Every year there are wildfires and California burns. He then asks the federal government for $$$ help. Nothing more. Governor, get your act together. We don’t see anything close to the level of burns in other states…but our team is working well together in…,” a follow-up post read.
Five years later, the two are still arguing over the best approach to the wildfires that killed at least 13 people in the Los Angeles area last week.
President Biden has been working to brief federal agencies and has even visited fire departments in Los Angeles County.
Newsom and other lawmakers are now urging President Trump to do the same after his inauguration as he prepares to take the helm of the federal government on Jan. 20.
