U.S. Congress members Darin LaHood and Darrell Issa sent a letter to President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam, reaffirming their commitment to rebuilding Lebanon while encouraging the country to uphold reforms and establish a state based on the rule of law.

President Donald Trump visited Southern California on Friday to tour the damage done by the ongoing wildfires in the state, where he held a press conference with local officials. Earlier in the day, Trump reiterated that he wants federal disaster relief to be conditional, but this time he made two specific demands.

A three-day meeting of U.S. House Republicans, meant to jumpstart President Donald Trump's $4 trillion tax cut agenda, ended on Wednesday without a deal as party fiscal hawks refused to move ahead unless the plan reduced the $1.

GOP Congressman Darrell Issa is introducing federal legislation meant to clear up the red tape facing firefighters in California in the wake of the deadly southern CA fires.

Trump's talk of attaching conditions to California’s federal disaster aid has put state Republican members of Congress in a quandary.

Why it matters: Blaming the fires on California’s liberal policies, President Donald Trump and GOP congressional leaders have proposed attaching assorted conditions to federal disaster aid — a move that, if taken seriously, threatens to delay recovery efforts.

It will be hard for the president to revoke FEMA funding. But a GOP-led Congress could slow down the region’s recovery.

The Preventing Our Next Natural Disaster Act calls for changes to how FEMA prepares for disasters, by increasing funding and giving priority to applicants in hardest-hit communities. It would also require a central database to consolidate information collected from all levels of government during disaster responses.

The letter noted that in recent weeks, Lebanon has witnessed several dramatic changes. Hezbollah and Israel reached a ceasefire agreement, and Lebanon elected a new president and chose a new prime minister, ending a political vacuum that lasted more than two years.

The Justice Department has moved to drop its criminal prosecution of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a Nebraska Republican who resigned last year after a conviction on charges that he lied to the FBI.

Longtime conservative activist Carl DeMaio won an Assembly seat last year, arguing the GOP must be more aggressive against Democratic policies. Some Republicans call him a self-promoter who can’t be trusted.

Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, a newcomer to the California Legislature, wants to retake power from Democrats with his unapologetically brash, Trump-inspired conservatism. So why do so many Republican insiders dislike him?