It has been more than six months since wildfires ravaged parts of Los Angeles county, and neither the White House nor Congress has acted on the state’s request for billions of dollars in federal assistance.

President Donald Trump suggested last month that his strained relationship with California’s democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom was affecting the flow of federal aid. 

“Hatred is never a good thing in politics. When you don’t like somebody, you don’t respect somebody. It’s harder for that person to get money,” said Trump.

Back in February, Newsom officially requested $40 billion in federal aid to assist in the recovery. On Monday, he amended that request to $34.1 billion.

For months, Democrats in Congress, including in the California delegation, pointed to the long history of congress generally treating disaster assistance as non-partisan.

But a number of California Democrats said that if a package is brought to the floor for Texas or any other state but leaves out aid for the Golden State, they will reject it.

“I would not support any disaster funding, without California being included,” said Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., point blank.  

“California has to be included. You know — if it’s good enough for Texas, [it] should be good enough for California,” added Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif.

“I’m going to reject an aid package that does not include aid for California,” said Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif. “Texas, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina. I mean, I’ve supported every aid package that has come before me. I think when Americans need help, when our states are calling for help — that is our job to answer their call for help. California should not be held to a different standard than any of those states.”

Texas has yet to make a formal disaster aid request following the deadly flash floods on July 4, but the state is expected to do so.

On Tuesday, Spectrum News asked Speaker Mike Johnson if he would you commit to including California in any disaster aid package passed out of the House.

“We wouldn’t know how much to commit because there’s a process this goes through,” claimed Johnson. 

The speaker’s office has previously cited that it is waiting for the White House to make an official request. Johnson alluded to the tension between the president and the governor while taking a jab at Newsom.

“Gavin Newsom seems to enjoy trying to stick his thumb in the eye of the White House and Congress, which seems to be counter purpose if he is requesting relief,” he quipped.

Johnson said that Republicans in Congress are “going to do the right thing at the end of the day, we’ll take care of the American people, we’ll take care of our federal responsibilities. But we’ve not seen the calculation nor the formal request yet, and I’m not going to act upon it until we do.”

When Spectrum News raised the point that the governor had sent a formal request to congressional leaders back in February, Johnson said, “I would get the request from the white House and the executive branch — that’s how it works. We’re going to follow the rules.”

A formal aid request issued by the White House isn’t the only way that Congress can provide assistance to Californians. Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., suggested a work around for Republican leadership if they want to bypass any refusal by the Trump administration to make an aid request.

“Replenish the disaster relief fund and the associated accounts that respond to disasters. It doesn’t matter where people apply if they meet the qualifications, and come from a state that has experienced a disaster. They will apply. And so let’s keep the states out of it and just replenish the funds. That’s our message to our Republican colleagues,” said Aguilar. 

“I hope that cooler heads prevail,” he added. “I hope that people who pride themselves on supporting this place as an institution — meet that moment. I’m concerned that Donald Trump, leading this, and leading them, poses a risk to that. But I hold out hope that they will push back and work with us in a bipartisan way.”

Gov. Newsom’s office downplayed concerns Tuesday that California may be boxed out of any potential aid package, sharing a clip of Spectrum News’ exchange with Speaker Johnson and writing “we’ve been in contact with the Speaker’s office, and they’ve been responsive on this issue. It’s our understanding the Speaker was referring specifically to the White House’s formal appropriations request. We look forward to working together — in a bipartisan manner — to deliver the relief Americans need. Disaster doesn’t care about party lines.”