Congress may not consider new aid for California to deal with its devastating spate of wildfires until mid-March, when Capitol Hill faces its next government funding deadline.
Lawmakers see March 14 — the spending deadline — as the next chance to address any emergencies that may need congressional cash, including the blazes sweeping through Los Angeles County. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said they’d address it in that negotiation, not in an upcoming budget reconciliation bill.
“You’ve got to wait until the disaster is over. It's clearly not yet, and you've got to give them time to do the estimate,” said House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.)
President Joe Biden already approved a major disaster declaration for the multiple fires that have devastated Southern California, a move which unlocked extra federal funding and resources such as grants for temporary housing and programs to help businesses and families recover. The Biden administration is already surging federal help to the region with money from the disaster aid package Congress approved in December for agencies like FEMA and the Forest Service.
Under typical procedure, Congress would also wait to take action until lawmakers have a request for emergency funding from the White House — where President-elect Donald Trump will be overseeing the response in less than two weeks.
“This will be something the Trump administration will have a lot to say about a little bit down the road,” Cole said.
The Appropriations chair emphasized the importance of getting cost estimates from experts on the ground. He would prefer to move any aid package as a standalone bill, but said his committee is “certainly open to carrying” requested aid on a spending bill in the coming months.
“Maybe, it depends on whether or not they've got the estimates in,” he said. “The big challenge on these things is to always make sure of two things: First, that you've had time to actually do the estimates, so you don't leave something out. And second, to make sure that people don't try and attach too much extra stuff to it.”
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
