SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers coalesced behind a bipartisan push for more wildfire recovery aid, projecting unity across party lines as President Donald Trump and other Republicans seek to link federal help to conservative policy priorities.
A joint letter led by Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla and GOP Rep. Ken Calvert and signed by every member representing California, obtained exclusively by POLITICO, urges congressional leaders to allocate more funding to help Los Angeles rebuild after catastrophic January wildfires that killed dozens of people and incinerated thousands of structures.
The letter makes no mention of preconditions or of the $40 billion Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) previously requested. But the broad list of signatories underscores how the drive for more federal assistance is bridging partisan divides within California’s large House delegation — and testing Republican adherence to Trump’s negotiating line.
Trump and administration allies have repeatedly talked up attaching strings to federal money, floating ideas like requiring voter ID at the polls and reining in a key coastal regulator.
