The looming political and media fight over the Los Angeles wildfires will be about Republican attempts to add conditions to federal aid. Given the incompetence and self-destructive policies of California Democrats, there is no reason why the aid shouldn’t carry conditions.

The battle lines are already being drawn on this matter. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has already said President-elect Donald Trump makes aid decisions based on his politics, and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) argued that it is “completely inappropriate” to place conditions on wildfire aid because “Mother Nature … doesn’t care about party affiliation.” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) came out of the gates early, saying there should be conditions and that there have “obviously” been “all sorts of problems” coming from California and Los Angeles Democrats that led to this crisis.