Rep. Garamendi Warns Trump: 'Don't Screw With California!'
*By Justin Chermol*
Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) warned President Trump not to mess with emergency funding for California on Friday after the commander-in-chief threatened to cut off disaster-relief in the fire-ravaged state.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Trump suggested that California itself was to blame for the wildfires that killed 86 people and destroyed thousands of homes last year, and said he was considering pulling its FEMA funds.
"Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen," [the president wrote](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1083022011574747137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1083022011574747137&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2F2019%2F01%2F09%2Fdonald-trump-fema-california-wildfires%2F2523581002%2F). "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 & money!"
Rep. Garamendi responded to the threat on Friday, saying, "Mr. President, California is the most important economy in this nation,"
Garamendi told Cheddar Friday. "Don't screw with California. Do not harm people that have lost their home."
"It is wrong, it is immoral. Don't do it," he said.
The tweeted threat comes just as Trump's administration is considering diverting billions in unspent disaster relief funds to build the border wall that is at the heart of a political dispute that has shuttered the government. Trump is reportedly [looking to end the shutdown](https://www.apnews.com/c9539cdeaa394fc2a00277f876ff3e43) by signing an emergency declaration to order the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build the wall without congressional approval.
In California, that funding is earmarked to maintain levies to avert flooding and maintain reservoirs to prevent them from failing, Garamendi said.
"People are in danger," he said. "People need to recover from the disasters of a year and a half ago. So the president's going to take that money to build a border wall? No. He does not ー should not have the power to do that. We should be introducing legislation to make sure that he cannot do that."
The government shutdown will become the longest in U.S. history on Saturday. Nearly 800,000 federal employees hoping to pay their mortgage, rent, or bills received no paycheck on Friday as they are either working unpaid or on furlough.
"They should be madder than hell at President," Garamendi said.
President Trump and ranking members of his administration continue to tell Americans that both a humanitarian and national security crisis abound at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Garamendi says otherwise: "There's no crisis on the border."
And the proposed state of emergency an abuse of power, he said.
"We do not have, or should not have, an imperial president. But he would establish himself, crown himself literally, as though he was Caesar."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/dont-screw-with-california-congressman-garamendi-slams-trump-in-latest-standoff).
A new analysis reveals that for more than two decades, the West has been the driest it has ever been since 800 A.D. The drought which began in 2000 has brought more devastating wildfires and draining water reserves well below healthy levels. Climate Scientists and Adjunct Associate Research Scientist at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University,Benjamin Cook, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Inflation remains hot as the January PPI has increased by 1 percent, twice what analysts had been expecting with a jump of 9.7 over the year. Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist, for S&P Global Ratings, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rapid pace of inflation alongside higher wages, predicting the Federal Reserve will act quickly and forcefully this year. "They haven't changed their forecast, yet, that's gonna come out soon. But we expect that a March rate hike is basically pretty much baked in the cake," she said. "We think six rate hikes in total for 2022."
For black history month, Cheddar is highlighting black business leaders who are driving the need for representation forward. On February 10, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted an event called 'Developing the Black-Owned Business Ecosystem.' The virtual event was organized under the lobbying group's two initiatives -- the Equality of Opportunity Initiative, and the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. The event highlighted the developments needed to develop more black-owned businesses in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Wilbon, Dean of the School of Business at Howard University, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as a speaker at the event.
A newly declassified letter by senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich claimed the CIA. has been conducting a Secret Surveillance Program which has been collecting a bulk of data from American citizens. The letter which was written in April of 2021 urges the CIA to come clean about the kind of data it collects and how many Americans have been impacted. According to these two senators, the program did not have the safeguards of congressional oversight.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and elaborates on the impact higher oil prices stemming from the conflict would have on the market.
Last week, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a a letter airing concerns that the CIA is collecting the data of American citizens without their consent. The lawmakers fear that the program might be exploiting private data. Morgan Wright, the chief security advisor at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ramifications of the letter. "We don't have all the dots in one place to connect them," said Wright, cautioning against jumping to conclusions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that diplomacy is still possible, while U.S. officials warn that an attack on Ukraine is imminent. Cheddar News speaks with James Astill, Washington bureau chief of The Economist on the latest developments in Eastern Europe.
As the number of Russian troops rose to 130,000 along its Ukrainian border, hopes for a diplomatic solution remain among world leaders. Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis at Morning Consult, joined Cheddar News to break down the fluid situation. "We saw signs pointing towards an increase in tensions between Ukraine and Russia, whereas today we're seeing some signs that the Russian government may be willing to continue down a path of diplomatic negotiations to try and find some sort of non-military solution," he said.
