California Gov. Jerry Brown asked President Donald Trump on Sunday for federal emergency assistance for the fourth time in just two months since the new administration took office, putting the nascent “CalExit” movement in a difficult position.
While advocates of California secession — both on the left and operating from abroad — have hoped to make the case that the Golden State can stand on its own, Brown’s repeated requests for help underline the fact that the world’s sixth-biggest economy is still dependent on the rest of the country.
The latest request, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, asks for money for flood relief, including for repairing the damaged spillways of the Oroville Dam, which nearly failed last month, resulting in the temporary evacuation of 200,000 residents downstream of the dam.
Desperate last-minute engineering maneuvers — including a massive release of water from the dam down an already-damaged main spillway — averted a collapse of the emergency spillway.
The Chronicle adds: “The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services has also requested assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration for individuals in Colusa, Lake, Lassen, Plumas, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, where the flooding from February storms damaged more than 200 homes and businesses.”
All three of Brown’s previous requests for aid have been granted.
Brown has vowed to stand up to the Trump administration on left-wing causes such as climate change and illegal immigration. At the same time, he has welcomed the commitment of the Trump administration to invest in infrastructure, although the White House has signaled that such spending would not include California’s controversial and costly high-speed rail project.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.