Jan 9, 2019, REGIONAL – California Gov. Gavin Newsom and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris reacted swiftly Wednesday morning to President Donald Trump’s tweet stating that he ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to send no more financial aid to California for forest fires. “Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest management, would never happen. Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives and money,” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.
Newsom responded, “Mr. President – just yesterday, @OregonGovBrown, @GovInslee, and I sent a letter asking the federal government to work with us in taking on these unprecedented wildfires. We have been put in office by the voters to get things done, not to play games with lives.”
Newsom also tweeted, “Disasters and recovery are no time for politics. I’m already taking action to modernize and manage our forests and emergency responses. The people of California — folks in Paradise — should not be victims to partisan bickering.”
Harris, D-California, also responded to Trump’s tweet Wednesday morning. “Californians endured the deadliest wildfire in our state’s history last year. We should work together to mitigate these fires by combating climate change, not play politics by threatening to withhold money from survivors of a deadly natural disaster,” Harris tweeted.