President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced an executive order that allows the federal government to override state and local regulations during recovery efforts from last year’s Los Angeles wildfires, arguing that California authorities have slowed rebuilding.
The order directs federal agencies to bypass state and local permitting processes for federally funded disaster recovery projects, asserting that “immediate and decisive federal action is required” to ensure aid is delivered without obstruction.
“This marked one of the greatest failures of elected political leadership in American history, from enabling the wildfires to failing to manage them, and it continues today with the abject failure to rebuild,” the order reads.
The order asserts that state and local governments failed to prevent, respond to and recover from the Eaton and Pacific Palisades fires, which burned nearly 40,000 acres, destroyed tens of thousands of homes and businesses, and displaced residents.
The order argues that permitting requirements and administrative processes have slowed reconstruction despite federal debris removal and disaster assistance.
Under the order, the Department of Homeland Security — through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration — are directed to consider regulations that would preempt state and local permitting processes for federally funded rebuilding projects.
The order also instructs federal agencies to expedite environmental and historic preservation reviews where permitted by law, and it directs FEMA to audit California’s use of federal hazard mitigation funds.
In addition, the administration ordered the development of legislative proposals aimed at expanding federal authority to intervene in disaster recovery efforts when state or local governments are deemed to be delaying rebuilding.
The move intensifies tensions between Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a longtime political rival. Newsom criticized the order in a post on X.
“Donald Trump has signed a useless Executive Order rather than deliver the $34 BILLION California’s taxpayers DESERVE in wildfire disaster aid to actually rebuild!” Newsom wrote.
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