A group of House Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump talked about tying wildfire aid to a debt ceiling increase Sunday night, as the fires spreading across huge swaths of Los Angeles are estimated to become one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
Of the nearly two dozen House Republicans who attended the Sunday dinner at Mar-a-Lago, where this option was discussed, several are caucus leaders and appropriators with major influence in upcoming budget reconciliation and government funding negotiations.
House Speaker Mike Johnson was not at the dinner, and no final decisions were made about the way forward, according to two people with direct knowledge of the private meeting, who were granted anonymity to discuss it.
Yet addressing the looming debt cliff will be one of Johnson’s biggest challenges in the coming months, especially as Trump continues to agitate for lawmakers to address it quickly.
The Sunday night discussions prove Republicans are desperately looking for a plan before the nation is due to exhaust its borrowing authority in June — though Democrats and some Republicans are sure to balk at the prospect of linking disaster relief dollars to a politically charged exercise like extending the debt limit.Many Republicans also fear adding a debt ceiling increase to their major party-line reconciliation package of border, energy and tax policy will sink the massive bill given internal GOP divisions, forcing leadership back to the drawing board repeatedly to come up with other ideas.The federal government’s disaster relief coffers are currently flush with cash, thanks to the $100 billion in disaster aid Congress cleared at the end of last year.
But the scope and scale of the fires engulfing Los Angeles has elected officials wondering if more money at some point might be needed.
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California always gets the short end of the stick with Republicans because it’s blue. But let Florida face a hurricane? Suddenly, the federal coffers are wide open. The hypocrisy is blinding.
it’s frustrating, but Democrats have made real progress—just look at the $100 billion in disaster aid passed last year. It’s Republicans dragging their feet, trying to force cuts to critical programs. This isn’t “both sides”; it’s sabotage.
Wildfire aid tied to the debt ceiling? Brilliant strategy—if you’re playing a game of “How Low Can We Go?” Let’s hold disaster relief hostage so we can cram through tax breaks for oil companies.
it’s beyond disgusting. These fires are devastating lives, and Republicans see dollar signs and political leverage. What’s next? Requiring victims to thank their corporate overlords for bottled water? Trump’s fingerprints are all over this nonsense.
This is classic GOP: prioritize power plays over people. Wildfire victims are pawns in their game to gut social programs while claiming they’re “saving America” from debt. Spoiler: they’re not.
@5KSJCL31yr1Y
the irony is they’ll probably frame this as “tough love” for California while quietly funneling billions into red-state projects. Disaster relief should never be political. But here we are—again—turning human suffering into a bargaining chip.
The GOP could approve wildfire aid tomorrow without attaching strings. Their refusal to act is deliberate cruelty, plain and simple.
The GOP’s obsession with the debt ceiling is a manufactured crisis they trot out to sabotage Democratic initiatives. Meanwhile, wildfire victims are sleeping in shelters, and the Republicans are sipping champagne at Trump’s estate. Disgusting.
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago dinners aren’t about governance—they’re about ego. He’s not a policymaker; he’s a chaos agent. Linking wildfire aid to the debt ceiling is just another way to create drama and stall progress.
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