Biden Shuns GOP Governors

Joe Biden apparently did not want the input of GOP Governors and excluded them from a meeting at the White House.

According to The Washington Free Beacon:

As wildfires rage across the western United States, Republican governors representing states with some of the largest fires were frozen out of a White House meeting to plan the federal government’s response.

President Joe Biden hosted several western governors for a virtual summit to plan for the start of wildfire season. Left off the White House’s invite list were Republican governors of Idaho, Montana, and Arizona—three states currently suffering from wildfires. In fact, 6 of the 10 largest fires currently raging in the United States are in states unrepresented at the meeting, according to the government’s wildfire tracking database.

Governors Greg Gianforte of Montana and Brad Little of Idaho wrote a joint letter to Biden on Wednesday noting the slight. “While we are encouraged to learn you will meet with eight western governors to discuss the federal government’s response to wildfires, we were disappointed to learn not all western states who face a harsh wildfire season will be at the table,” the governors wrote. “It is critical to engage governors fully and directly to have a productive discussion about how the federal government can improve its wildfire response and prevention efforts.”

Present at the meeting were five Democratic governors—representing California, Oregon, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada—along with just two Republicans, from Wyoming and Utah. At least one additional Democratic governor, Washington’s Jay Inslee, was invited to the meeting but did not attend. Inslee, a former chair of the Democratic Governors Association, scored an invite that was not extended to Arizona governor Doug Ducey, who chairs the Republican Governors Association.

Alaskan Governor Mike Dunleavy was excluded despite Alaska having a high prevalence of wildfires.