Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin will oversee efforts to rebuild California homes destroyed by the devastating wildfires in 2025, President Donald Trump said.
The order also directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration to issue regulations that preempt certain state and local rules in order to expedite rebuilding.
Speaking at a Treasury Department summit on the new “Trump Accounts” initiative, the president said Zeldin will make sure the order is followed through on.
“I haven’t told this to Lee Zeldin yet, but I’m going to put you in charge of getting permits,” the president said.
“I think we’re going to override to local authorities because they’re never going to, they’re never going to have it.
“And when I was told that there’s a provision where you can override the local authority to get things done ... because it’s really to me, it’s a national emergency. What they’ve done to these people is horrible.”
The Palisades and Eaton fires exploded at opposite ends of Los Angeles County within hours of each other on Jan. 7, 2025. The inferno lasted more than three weeks, killing 31 people and destroying about 13,000 homes.
Democratic members pressed for additional FEMA funds to support recovery, while Republicans questioned whether it was appropriate to send more federal dollars with the same local leadership in power.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the subcommittee’s ranking member, urged Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to join him in asking the Trump administration to authorize an additional $34 billion in FEMA aid.
Johnson, however, said that California’s needs were driven by “utter incompetence and failure” by Los Angeles and state officials and that it would be unfair to ask taxpayers nationwide to cover the cost of what he called an “entirely preventable” disaster.
“Some American taxpayer is going to be, you know, ‘I’m supposed to join in a request for $[34] billion because California leadership utterly failed,’” Johnson said.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) echoed Johnson’s criticism. He criticized Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for traveling to Ghana as part of a U.S. delegation to the inauguration of the African country’s new president while the fires were burning in her city.
“The mayor of Los Angeles is in a different continent, and then they all come back and come here to the federal government and say: ‘Oh, you know, we are complete idiots. Would you mind handing over $[34] billion?’” Moreno said, referring to Blumenthal’s call for FEMA funds. “Why would we reward that level of bad behavior?”
Republicans at the hearing also noted that FEMA, part of the Department of Homeland Security, faces potential funding threats as some Democrats oppose the department’s immigration enforcement policies and are demanding changes in exchange for supporting a broader funding package.
Blumenthal later clarified that he was simply urging a bipartisan push to ensure that FEMA provides stronger support.
“[Natural disasters] don’t really know the difference between red and blue states,” he said. “I hope we have a bipartisan approach to this issue.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was in Washington on Jan. 27 to advocate for the FEMA aid, criticized the Trump administration’s response.
