TRUMP'S FEDERAL DEI PURGE PUTS HUNDREDS ON LEAVE, NIXES $420M IN CONTRACTS "Listen, there are a lot of issues going on in California, and we have been lamenting the lack of voter

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is keeping the door open to conditioning California disaster aid on the state enacting voter identification laws, days after President Trump said he wanted to link the two priorities.

The demand further politicized a fragile situation that has left Gov. Gavin Newsom scrambling to respond to the whims of the president — or even to speak with him at all — to secure billions of dollars from the federal government to help Los Angeles fight an ongoing firestorm and rebuild.

Trump has long portrayed California as a liberal bastion that puts environmentalism ahead of its residents. Most recently, he has taken aim at the endangered Delta smelt fish, which is protected by laws that Trump claims hinders the state’s ability to provide water to its residents or tamp down fires.

President Trump on Friday said he wanted to see two actions taken in California before he offered federal support for Los Angeles as it grapples with wildfires. “I want to see two things in

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) suggested Republicans might condition wildfire aid funds on voter ID requirements in California, calling the idea "commonsense." At a press conference on Monday, CNN's Manu Raju asked about the possibility of conditions in exchange for wildfire relief funding.