President-elect Trump floated the idea Thursday of including federal aid to Los Angeles in the wake of deadly fires as part of a massive reconciliation package, suggesting that doing so would win over some Democratic votes.

Trump pitched the strategy during an interview on "The Dan Bongino Show." Bongino, a long-time Trump ally, argued Republicans should use the momentum from the 2024 election to pass the president-elect's agenda in one large reconciliation bill.

The incoming president responded that passing one reconciliation bill or breaking his agenda into two bills would have the same end result. But, he suggested the push for one large bill has been "unfortunately helped" by the fires that have ravaged swaths of Los Angeles.

"I’d like to see one bill. And because of Los Angeles, you’d think that’s a Democrat thing. They want that money going so fast. Because of Los Angeles, I think the concept of one, big, beautiful bill has been helped greatly," Trump said, noting he knew of many people who lost homes in the fires.

"If you add Los Angeles into it, then you can really do one, big, beautiful bill, because, frankly, they want that so badly," he continued. "They want the money to go out there so badly. And I don’t think we should do a bill until Los Angeles is included. And when Los Angeles is included, we get everything we want."

Democrats are unlikely to get behind a sweeping bill to enact Trump's agenda, and funding aid for Los Angeles has been a point of contention in recent days.

Many Republicans are demanding conditions on any new emergency funding for Los Angeles, blaming Democratic leaders in California for exacerbating the crisis. Democrats are pushing back, accusing Republicans of exploiting the disaster to score political points and noting Congress typically passes disaster aid without conditions.

Republicans have for weeks been debating whether to try to pass Trump's agenda on border security, tax policy, and energy and manufacturing investments as part of one reconciliation bill, or break it into two pieces to try to bank an early win. The party controls both chambers of Congress but has a slim majority in the House.

Passing legislation via the reconciliation process would require a simple majority in both chambers of Congress, meaning Republicans would not require any Democratic support, but everything included must affect spending or revenue levels.

The draft is three weeks away now. GM Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson have pieced together an off-season that is earning widespread praise across the league. The question is whether they can stick the landing with their 1st round pick in the draft. Current projections have the top three picks likely being a mix of Cam Ward, Travis Hunter, and Abdul Carter. After that, it gets tricky. People in Chicago want to know where running back Ashton Jeanty will end once the dust settles.

Widespread belief has been that the Las Vegas Raiders are the heavy favorites to take him at 6th overall, with New Orleans at #9 also being a possibility. It makes sense. Las Vegas’ best option right now is a 33-year-old Raheem Mostert. New Orleans knows Alvin Kamara turns 30 in July. Both teams need to think about the future at that position. Both have head coaches who like to run the ball. One thing is clear. A source told SM that those around the league believe one thing is certain.

“He likely won’t get passed Chicago if he falls that far.”

Ashton Jeanty is a strong probability for the Bears.

Whispers from Halas Hall indicate they love the Boise State star. It isn’t hard to see why. He nearly broke Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record in 2024, nearly winning the Heisman in the process. The guy carried his team to the college football playoffs. He’s built like a brick house with power, speed, contact balance, and vision. There aren’t any truly glaring weaknesses in his game. He’s earned comparisons to the likes of LaDainian Tomlinson and Marshawn Lynch. The Bears haven’t had a back of that caliber since Matt Forte.

Try to imagine what this offense could look like with Ashton Jeanty, Rome Odunze, D.J. Moore, and Cole Kmet all as options for quarterback Caleb Williams. Throw all of it into Johnson’s offense, and you can understand why some people around the league aren’t wild about the idea. They are quietly hoping Jeanty goes somewhere else. One thing is certain. If he gets past the Raiders, the noise will get loud in a hurry. It would mark the first time in 20 years the Bears have taken a running back in the 1st round.