Speaker Mike Johnson suggests ‘conditions’ needed on disaster aid for LA wildfires
Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that “there should probably be conditions” on aid to help California deal with devastating wildfires when asked if he’s open to sending funding, signaling a possible political battle over helping the traditionally Democratic state.
“I think there should probably be conditions on that aid. That’s my personal view. We’ll see what the consensus is. I haven’t had a chance to socialize that with any of the members over the weekend because we’ve all been very busy, but it’ll be part of the discussion,” Johnson said.
He did not offer specifics and ABC News has asked his office to clarify.
Johnson said the House Republican Conference will have a “serious discussion” about aid and blamed leadership in California who he said, “were derelict in their duty,” echoing claims made by President-elect Donald Trump about the state’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, and Karen Bass, the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles.
“Obviously, there has been water resource management, forest management, mistakes, all sorts of problems, and it does come down to leadership, and it appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty, and in many respects. So, that’s something that has to be factored in,” he said.
Johnson said, “there’s some discussion” within GOP conference to tie the debt limit increase to aid to California but cautioned “we will see how it goes.”
After natural disasters, additional funding to help rebuild is usually approved with few if any conditions and typically receives bipartisan support.
Johnson’s initial stance could mean a partisan fight in Congress over disaster relief for California in the coming days and weeks.
Given the slim margin Republicans hold in the House, the speaker will likely need Democrats to ultimately back any final proposal.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris continued their farewell tour on Thursday, attending the Department of Defense Commander in Chief Farewell Ceremony, offering his thanks to U.S. troops for their service throughout his administration.
“Serving as your commander in chief has been the greatest honor of my life. While I’m deeply grateful for your thanks and affection, I’m here to thank you. Thank you for your service to our nation and for allowing me to bear witness to your courage, your commitment, your character. As I listened to the choir sing, I thought about it. You all represent what America is: Character, honesty, integrity, commitment,” Biden said.
The president spoke to the global conflicts he faced during his time in office that as commander in chief he asked American troops to help carry out, including ending the war in Afghanistan and the chaotic withdrawal.
“I believe history will reflect, it was the right thing to do. But I know it was hard. After decades of losing your brothers and sisters, including through withdrawal, the pain was still real. And it was for me as well,” Biden said of the decision with a much more reflective tone than we’ve seen in recent speeches.
Biden also spoke about the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“Six months after that war ended, when Russia began its largest war in Europe since World War II, I asked you to help defend Ukraine. You didn’t hesitate. You kept Ukraine in the fight. Trained Ukrainian soldiers and pilots, troops bolstered NATO’s eastern flank. And above all, you showed the world, America stands up for freedom. Stands with our friends. America stands strong with our allies. We never bend down,” Biden said.
Biden also praised U.S. troops for playing a part in the hostage and ceasefire deal finally coming together, and their service in the Middle East.
“I asked you to deploy to the Middle East. Again, you stepped up, pulling long nights and long deployments to weaken Hamas, to defending Israel against unprecedented attacks in Iran. Imagine, had we not? If we don’t lead the world, who will lead the world?” he said.
The president praised the work of the armed forces for helping to keep China in check and strengthening America’s standing in the Pacific.
Biden also highlighted the work his administration has done to help veterans, including passing the PACT act to help veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits while serving, like his late son Beau.
Speaking personally about his own family’s experience with the military, Biden praised the first lady’s work with military families. “Most Americans never see the sacrifices that you make every single day. They’ll never see all those holidays and birthdays with an empty seat at the dinner table, because mom or dad was deployed. They’ll never see all the moves you had to make to new states, to new schools, to new jobs. But I see it and Jill saw it. She made it her life’s work. She’s done everything big and small,” Biden said of his wife.
“So, for the last time as commander in chief, I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all of the families. We owe you. I’ve long said as a nation, we have many obligations. But I say we only have one truly sacred obligation. That’s the prayer of those we send into harm’s way and care for them and their families when they come home and when they don’t,” Biden added. Closing out his remarks, Biden gave one final request to the troops “not as your president or commander in chief, I say it as a man who spent 50 years of his life serving his country in a different way.”
“Remember your oath. My son, Major Beau Biden, used to call it home base. That’s a set of principles of values that give you light and darkness that guide you,” he said. “It’s true to the military. It’s the best weapons, the best training in the world, with the most cutting-edge ships, planes, and subs. We have the smartest, most well-trained force on Earth. That’s all critical. But that alone is not what makes us strong. This is not what brought Washington its band of brothers together all those years ago.”
“It’s our values. I mean it sincerely, it’s our values, American values, our commitment to honor, to integrity, to unity, to protecting and defending not a person or a party or a place, but an idea,” he said.
Prior to his remarks, the president and first lady were presented with the Distinguished Public Service Medal. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin placed the medal on the chest pocket of Biden’s suit jacket and presented him with a framed certificate, after a commendation was read overhead.
(WASHINGTON) — Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer defended his choice to vote with the minority of his party to keep the government open last week and his position as leader in an appearance on “The View” on Tuesday.
His comments come as some Democrats have publicly raised questions about their confidence in Schumer’s role as party leader following his move to allow Republicans to advance their led funding bill.
Schumer doubled down on the assertion he made on the Senate floor ahead of Friday’s closely watched vote: The Republican funding bill, called a continuing resolution or CR, was bad, but a government shutdown would have been worse.
“I knew it was a difficult choice, and I knew I’d get a lot of criticism or my choice, but I felt as a leader I had to do it,” Schumer told “The View” hosts.
Schumer said he and fellow Democrats “hated” the funding bill because it creates a “slush fund” for President Donald Trump, his adviser Elon Musk and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought to “push around.”
But a shutdown, Schumer said “would have devastation like we have never seen.”
He said it would have given the Trump administration the freedom to slash programs it views as nonessential, with little to no recourse for Democrats to pursue. Programs like Medicaid and SNAP or funding for mass transit could have been indiscriminately slashed, he said.
“You have two choices: one bad, the other devastating,” Schumer said. “One chops off one of your fingers, the other chops off your arm.”
He said he was being “trolled” by Trump when the president congratulated him for passage of the bill on Trump’s Truth Social platform.
“He was trolling me. I know this guy. He’s trying to confuse people he always tries to confuse people,” Schumer said.
As a leader, Schumer said he had to act to avert a crisis down the road that would have been caused by a shutdown. But his position has not quelled calls within his own party for new leadership after Democrats appeared to some to be lacking in a strategy during Friday’s vote.
Schumer defended his role atop the caucus from ongoing criticism.
Responding to concerns that the party is somewhat aimless without an official leader, Schumer said Democrats have many talented leaders.
“When we don’t have a president, there is a lot of leaders. We have a great bench,” he said. “As for the Senate caucus, of which I am the leader, I should be the leader.”
Schumer touted his ability to recruit talent to win seats in the Senate, pointing to the 2020 election when Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff successfully claimed both seats in Georgia.
He also likened himself to an “orchestra leader” conducting his caucus to help their talents come through.
“We have a load of talent in our caucus, and I’ll tell you one thing: We are united in going after Trump and showing the American people that he is making the middle class pay for the tax cuts on the rich.”
Schumer also promoted his new book, “Antisemitism in America: A warning.”
He encouraged a number of individuals to read the book, including the president.
“He doesn’t understand what Jewish people are like. And he does things that can lead to antisemitism,” Schumer said. “He should read the book. He could learn something.”
He also warned against the left “sliding into” antisemitism.
(HELENA, Mont.) — The Montana House of Representatives advanced a bill to ban transgender people from using public bathrooms that do not align with their sex assigned at birth, the first of this type of legislation to progress in the 2025 session.
It is one of 138 anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S. tracked by the ACLU so far this year.
This comes after a bipartisan effort in December to reject a measure that would have banned state Rep. Zooey Zephyr — the first openly trans lawmaker in the state — from using the women’s bathroom at the state Capitol.
The new bill states that a “restroom, changing room, or sleeping quarters … that is designated for females or males may be used only by members of that sex.”
The bill seeks to define sex “based on the organization of the body parts and gametes for reproduction,” adding that the sexes are defined by “sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex chromosomes, gonads, and nonambiguous internal and external genitalia present at birth” and not any other definition of gender.
The bill does not include a definition or classification for those born intersex, or people with ambiguous genitals, chromosomes, hormones or reproductive organs that are neither clearly male nor female at birth.
The bill does not state how it will be enforced or how those using such facilities will be checked. However, the bill does state that residents can sue for attorney fees and other costs if “another individual of the opposite sex” is using a single-sex facility.
When her colleagues declined to support a similar bathroom ban in 2024, Zephyr applauded the rejection: “I’m happy to see that this proposed ban failed and am grateful for my colleagues — particularly my republican colleagues — who recognized this as a distraction from the work we were elected to do,” she posted on social media platform X. “I’m ready to represent my constituents & look forward to working on behalf of Montana.”
Critics of bathroom bans say they create a false “fear” of transgender people. They argue transgender people aren’t inherently dangerous and are four times more likely to be victims of violence than cisgender people, according to recent studies.
In a past interview, Zephyr told ABC News that she believes anti-transgender rhetoric and legislation have been a distraction from the issues facing average Americans.
“Leave trans people alone, let us live our lives and let our representatives get back to trying to make our states better places for all of us,” Zephyr said.
ABC News reached out to Zephyr for comment on the measure Wednesday.
Zephyr did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on the measure Thursday.
Those in support of the bill argue that restrictions on bathroom use enhance safety and privacy for women.
Montana Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, a Republican, said the bill “reflects the values and priorities of Montanans, protecting privacy, safeguarding dignity, and ensuring safety for women and children in vulnerable places.”
She continued, “This bill is not about exclusion or hate, it’s about common sense boundaries that have served our society for generations.”
One study in the Sexuality Research and Social Policy journal was unable to find evidence that trans-inclusive policies on restrooms, lockers and changing rooms increase safety risks or related crimes.
Transgender people – who are estimated to make up less than 1% of the adult population – have been the focus of conservative-sponsored legislation across the country.
Last year, restrictions on transgender participation in sports, bathroom use, gender marker changes, pronoun use in schools and gender-affirming care made up a majority of the record-breaking 533 anti-LGBTQ bills tracked by the ACLU in the 2024 legislative sessions nationwide.
Zephyr won her bid for reelection to the Montana House of Representatives after she was censured and barred from the House floor for almost two years for protesting a gender-affirming youth care ban in her state.
