Republican congressman calls for halting of disaster relief to California | California wildfires

A Republican US congressman from Ohio has called for federal disaster relief to be withheld from California unless the state reforms its forestry management practices that some blame for the rapid spread of wind-fanned fires that broke on Tuesday.

Warren Davidson’s remarks to Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Friday came as California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, urged officials to avoid politicizing the response to the blazes which had killed people and destroyed thousands of homes.

Davidson’s comments came in the context of a spending bill that Congress would need to pass before March to prevent a government shutdown would include disaster relief for California.

Davidson pointed to the American Relief Act, 2025 – passed in December – that contributed $110bn to disaster relief for areas affected by Hurricanes Milton and Helene, including North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Other disaster-affected areas were also included.

The congressman said that Congress will “need to address fires” as it had with the previous hurricane damage, “but … if they want the money, then there should be consequences where they have to change their policies” with respect to forestry management.

“I mean, we support the people that are plagued by disaster, but we have to put pressure on the California government to change course here.”

The politicization of the Los Angeles fires, which started almost as soon as they took hold, show signs of intensifying in the aftermath. Donald Trump – who begins a second presidency on 20 January – weighed in, alluding to his having accused state leaders of “gross mismanagement” of forests in 2018 after wildfires devastated Malibu and Paradise, California.

At the time, Newsom defended California’s wildfire prevention efforts while criticizing the federal government for not doing enough to help protect the state. “You don’t believe in climate change. You are excused from this conversation”, Newsom told Trump in a post on X.

Trump more recently blamed the Democratic-controlled state of withholding water from northern parts of the state to southern California as part of environmental efforts to help protect a small fish – the Delta smelt – and blamed environmentalists for hampering the state’s fire response.

But Friday, Newsom temporarily sought to put that dispute to one side, inviting Trump to visit areas affected by the fire disaster and to meet with first responders, firefighters and “Americans” affected by the catastrophe.

“In the spirit of this great country, we must not politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines,” Newsom wrote in a letter to Trump on Friday. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans – displaced from their homes and fearful for the future – deserve to see all of us working in their best interests to ensure a fast recovery and rebuild.”

But hours later, Newsom amplified comments critical of Trump in an interview with Pod Save America in which he rejected Trump’s claim that water is being withheld to save the endangered fish, calling the messaging “delusional” and “a consistent mantra from Trump going back years and years, and it’s reinforced over and over within the right wing … and it’s profoundly ignorant”.

Newsom said fears that Trump could try to withhold federal relief funds from California was reasonable. “He’s done it in the past, not just here in California,” he said, and pointed to prior efforts in Puerto Rico, Utah, Connecticut and Georgia. “The rhetoric is very familiar, it’s increasingly acute, and obviously we all have reason to be concerned about.”

Newsom added that Trump’s assertions about a state water project and the delta smelt were a “salad, it’s the form and substance of a fog, it’s made-up, it’s delusional”.

Trump’s claims, Newsom added, were “sort of an indelible misinformation that’s he sort of manifested, a falsehood, and he decided to bring it into this crisis in a profoundly demeaning and damaging way”.

Joe Biden has already approved a disaster declaration for the southern California fires, committing the federal government to covering all of the fire management and debris removal costs for six months. But with days left in Biden’s presidency, the federal recovery assistance that California receives will soon be up to Trump and a Congress controlled by his fellow Republicans.

Newsom thanked Biden – his fellow Democrat – for having “approved our major disaster declaration”. According to Politico, in his letter to Trump, Newsom wrote Biden’s action was “a strong indication of the partnership California needs and appreciates with any federal administration”.

“However,” Newsom added, “the threat to lives and property remains acute. Higher-than-normal winds of up to 70 miles per hour are still forecast for the next several days, and more extreme winds are likely early next week, with no change to dry conditions.”

According to Politico, an unnamed Trump official downplayed the idea that he would withhold aid to the state.