President-elect Trump on Thursday floated the idea of including federal aid to Los Angeles in the wake of the deadly fires as part of a massive settlement package that could win some Democratic votes. suggested.
Trump proposed this strategy in an interview on “The Dan Bongino Show.” Bongino, a longtime ally of President Trump, argued that Republicans should use the momentum of the 2024 election to pass the president-elect's agenda with a major reconciliation bill.
The president-elect responded that whether he passed one reconciliation bill or split his agenda into two bills, the end result would be the same. But he suggested that the push for one big bill was “unfortunately helped” by the fires that destroyed large swathes of Los Angeles.
“I'd like to see one bill, and I think it's a Democratic thing because of Los Angeles. They want that money to flow very quickly. Thanks to Los Angeles. And the concept of one big, beautiful bill helped a lot,'' Trump said, noting that he knew many people who lost their homes in the fires.
“If you add Los Angeles to that, you have one really big, beautiful bill, because frankly, they really want it,” he continued. “They really want the money to go out there, and I don't think they should introduce a bill until it includes Los Angeles. And once Los Angeles is included, we get what we want. You can have it all.”
Democrats are unlikely to support sweeping legislation to implement President Trump's policies, and funding for Los Angeles has been a point of contention in recent days.
Many Republican lawmakers have accused California's Democratic leaders of worsening the crisis and are pushing for conditions on new emergency funding for Los Angeles. Democrats have pushed back, accusing Republicans of using disasters to score political points and pointing out that Congress typically passes disaster aid without conditions.
For weeks, Republicans have been trying to decide whether to pass President Trump's agenda on border security, tax policy, and energy and manufacturing investment as part of a single reconciliation bill, or split it into two parts for an early victory. I've been debating. The party controls both houses of Congress, but has a slim majority in the lower house.
Republicans do not need support from Democrats, as they would need a simple majority in both chambers to pass the bill through the reconciliation process, but everything it includes should have an impact on spending and revenue levels.
