Governor Gavin Newsom is heading to the White House on Wednesday to ask President Donald Trump for federal money to address California’s wildfires, after state legislators passed $50 million to fund anti-Trump measures.
Newsom himself agreed to the $50 million deal in mid-January, with fires still burning in the Los Angeles area, after complaining that Trump wanted to “politicize” the fires by talking about the state’s failed water policies and forestry.
The spending came out of a special legislative session called by Newsom himself. The State Assembly passed the anti-Trump funding right away, and while the State Senate balked at first, it als passed the funding earlier this week.
The Sacramento Bee reported:
Gov. Gavin Newsom will meet with federal officials this week, aiming to secure federal disaster relief money after a series of wildfires devastated the Los Angeles area.
Newsom’s office said Tuesday the governor had left for Washington, D.C., where he is expected to meet Wednesday with members of President Donald Trump’s administration and members of Congress. Politico reported he will also meet with Trump, but a spokesperson for Newsom declined to confirm, saying his schedule had not been finalized.
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The governor has taken a lower profile in recent days than his legislative counterparts, who passed two bills setting aside $50 million for future litigation with the White House after Newsom called a special legislative session.
Newsom has yet to sign the bills into law. At a town hall meeting last month, Trump pledged to appoint a “special master” to oversee federal spending on the wildfires to ensure state and local officials did not waste the money.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
