Trump issues executive order to expedite rebuilding after Los Angeles County wildfires

By Dave Mason
The Center Square

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Tuesday to expedite permits and remove local or state government delays for Los Angeles County residents rebuilding after last year’s devastating wildfires.

But local and state officials say they need federal money, not federal control of permits.

The president’s order seeks to bypass city and county building regulations. It also orders an audit of $3 billion that went to California to prevent fires through the federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

In January 2025, the Palisades Fire, which struck the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in coastal Los Angeles and nearby Malibu and Topanga Canyon, burned 23,448 acres, destroyed 6,833 buildings and killed 12 people. At the same time, the Eaton Fire burned 14,021 acres, destroyed 1,073 structures and cost 17 lives in the Pasadena/Altadena area, which is further inland in Los Angeles County.

“It is the policy of my Administration that federally funded reconstruction projects for homes and businesses in the wildfire-impacted neighborhoods of the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon areas proceed with the maximum speed consistent with public safety, and that Federal assistance not be frustrated by unnecessary, duplicative, or obstructive permitting requirements that prevent families and businesses from rebuilding,” Trump wrote in the order.

Trump’s order says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Small Business Administration can preempt state or local permitting processes. The order also grants them the power to designate someone to accept self-certifications from builders saying that they complied with local and state health and safety standards.

The Center Square reached out Tuesday afternoon to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who contended Trump has no authority to control local permit processes. She called the executive order “another meaningless political stunt” and an attempt to divert attention from the people killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents – Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis and Keith Porter Jr. in Los Angeles.

It would be more helpful if Trump provided critical Federal Emergency Management Agency funding that the city requested, Bass said in a statement emailed to The Center Square. She called on the president to speed up FEMA reimbursements and regulate the industries he alone can impact.

“In fact, I’m calling on the President to issue a new Executive Order to demand the insurance industry pay people for their losses so that survivors can afford to rebuild, push the banking industry to extend mortgage forbearance by three years, tacking them on to the end of a 30-year mortgage, and bring the banks together to create a special fund to provide no-interest loans to fire survivors,” Bass said.

In his executive order, Trump said the federal government approved numerous claims for financial support, but homeowners couldn’t use the money because of burdensome and confusing permit processes.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Press Office responded on X to Trump’s executive order, calling on the president to release federal funding instead of taking over the local permit speed. The post noted more than 1,625 home permits have been issued, that hundreds of homes are under construction and that permitting timelines are at least twice as fast as they were before the fires.

“Mr. President, please actually help us. We are begging you,” Newsom’s office said. “Release the federal disaster aid you’re withholding that will help communities rebuild their homes, schools, parks, and infrastructure.”

The Center Square reached out to California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s press office, which replied that the state Department of Justice was reviewing Trump’s executive order.

“If President Trump would like to help Los Angeles families, he should start by releasing long-delayed wildfire recovery funding,” the Attorney General’s Press Office told The Center Square in an email.

The Center Square also reached out to the White House, but did not get an immediate comment.