Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is backing placing conditions on disaster assistance for California in the wake of the destructive wildfires blazing around the Los Angeles area, a position already drawing opposition from Democrats.

In remarks to reporters at the Capitol on Monday, Johnson criticized California’s water resource and forest management, placing the blame at the hands of leaders on the state and local level.

“I think we’ve got to have a serious conversation about that,” Johnson said when asked about conditions on the aid. “Obviously there has been water resource mismanagement, forest management mistakes, all sorts of problems. And it does come down to leadership, and it appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty in many respects. So that’s something that has to be factored in.”

“I think there should probably be conditions on that aid. That’s my personal view, we’ll see what the consensus is,” he added. “I haven’t had a chance to socialize that with any of the members over the weekend because we’ve all been very busy, but it’ll be part of the discussion, for sure.”

President-elect Trump and Republicans blamed California’s leaders for a lack of available water supplies last week, accusing Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) of blocking efforts to pump water from Northern California to the Los Angeles area. But experts maintain doing so would have been impractical.

The Speaker also confirmed that conversations are underway about potentially pairing the California disaster aid with a debt limit increase, a prospect Republicans discussed with Trump during a meeting at his Mar-a-Lago estate over the weekend.

“There’s some discussion about that, but we’ll see where it goes,” Johnson said when asked about combining the two priorities.

Johnson did not say what kind of conditions he would like to be placed on the California disaster relief, but the idea is already sparking opposition among Democrats, with one warning that such a move could drive a Democratic majority to do the same in the future.

“This is a Mistake,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) wrote on the social platform X. “If you start this, it will never end. When Dems retake the House, they will condition aid to Florida and Texas. Disaster Aid must stay non partisan. I would fight democrats should they try and do this.  The Speaker can find many other ways to hold people accountable.”

It remains unclear when Congress will begin the process of considering disaster aid since the fires in California are still ablaze, the price tag for such a package is unknown, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has said it has enough money at the moment to respond to various disasters, including the wildfires, in the near future. Congress approved more than $100 billion in emergency aid in December.

The looming push, however, already appears to be taking a political turn, as officials snipe over what led to the raging wildfires. Trump, for example, has called on Newsom to resign, placing the blame of the wildfires on him.

“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week. “It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!”