A Republican Senator says he expects there will be “strings attached” to any wildfire aid passed by Congress for the state of California.

Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) trashed “the policies of the liberal administration” in California — which, he argues, has made the impact of the wildfires worse.

“When you see what’s being shown on television, in addition to the tragedy on the ground, you’re also seeing gross mismanagement in California by elected officials, and it’s heartbreaking to hear the fire chief say that they’ve diverted all of this money away from the fire department to be used for social programs when they were already stretched too thin,” Barrasso said. “So yes, I expect there’s going to be hearings, there’s going to be requests of Congress. There can’t be a blank check on this, however, because people want to make sure that as rebuilding occurs, as things go on in California, they have to be resilient, so that these sorts of things can’t happen again. And the policies of the liberal administration out there, I believe have made these fires worse.”

Moderator Margaret Brennan asked Barrasso about the prospect of a Republican majority in Congress passing an aid package for one of America’s bluest states.

“Do you expect, though, that Congress and Republicans will still help these Americans in need — even if they don’t like their local politics in the party?” Brennan asked.

“I expect that there will be strings attached to money that is ultimately approved, and it has to do with being ready the next time, because this was a gross failure this time,” Barrasso replied.

The comment was blasted by Barrasso’s colleague, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) — in a post on X shortly after the CBS broadcast.

“C’mon,” Murphy wrote. “We aren’t idiots. Republicans never ask for ‘strings’ attached to disaster funding for Republican states. This isn’t about helping California. This is about punishing California because it votes for Democrats.”

The post GOP Senator Trashes California’s ‘Liberal Administration’ On CBS — Says Wildfire Relief Cash Will Likely Come With ‘Strings Attached’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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