For California Governor Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders in the left-leaning state, the still-raging wildfires could have been a chance to showcase their competence and unity with the White House in dealing with a natural disaster.

"House Democrats are willing to roll up our sleeves and to stay here as long as possible, to have the conversations, but at the end of the day, ultimately this will mean disaster assistance and that needs to be free from partisan conditions,

California and other Democratic-controlled states would need to atone for “bad behavior” if they wanted federal assistance, one lawmaker said.