Top House Republican says should be conditions on California wildfire aid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Monday that Congress should place conditions on aid to Los Angeles communities devastated by wildfires, alleging that state and local officials in largely Democratic California have mismanaged the state’s water resources and forests.

“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,” Johnson told reporters in the U.S. Capitol. “I think there should probably be conditions on that aid. That’s my personal view. We’ll see what the consensus is.”

He said disaster aid for California has not yet been discussed broadly within his House of Representatives Republican conference. The lawmakers are due to meet behind closed doors on Tuesday morning.

At least 24 people have died, more than 90,000 are under evacuation orders and thousands of homes and businesses have been destroyed in a wave of wildfires around Los Angeles that have over the past week burned an area the size of Washington.