California’s congressional delegation renews call for federal aid on anniversary of wildfires
On the one-year anniversary of the Southern California wildfires, elected officials from Los Angeles County and across the state renewed their calls for additional federal disaster aid to help communities impacted by the Palisades and Eaton fires continue to recover.
U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, along with every U.S. House representative from California, sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Jan. 7, urging him to request Congress to pass additional supplemental aid. Their latest plea came a month after Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a revised letter to congressional leaders in both parties requesting nearly $34 billion in additional funding.
The legislators credited the Trump administration for helping facilitate the fastest hazardous debris cleanup in history after the wildfires but said additional federal support is needed to rebuild federal and state highways and roads, and critical public infrastructure, among other things.
“Just as the federal government has come to the aid of communities impacted by wildfires across the western United States, tornadoes in the Midwest, ice storms in Texas, or hurricanes in the Southeast, we should once again support the recovery of the impacted families, businesses, and communities in Los Angeles County,” the letter stated.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom visited various ceremonies marking the anniversary on Wednesday, including a temporary memorial exhibit curated by the Department of Angels. They met with survivors of both the Eaton and Palisades fires and were joined by senators Padilla and Schiff.
Members of L.A. County’s congressional delegation – who are all Democrats – reiterated their pleas for federal aid during an afternoon press conference in Washington, D.C.
The Southern California legislators criticized Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, accusing Republicans of politicizing federal disaster aid, during the press conference.
The $34 billion in supplemental aid that California is seeking “is essential to ensuring that our communities can continue to recover, rebuild and heal,” said Rep. Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park, who represents Altadena and Pasadena – communities hit hardest by the Eaton fire.
A year after the fires, Chu said, seven out of 10 Eaton fire survivors have not been able to return home.
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, who represents the Palisades community, said he’s spoken with Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee and while they appear sympathetic to California’s situation, they’re waiting for a signal from Trump before moving forward on supplemental aid.
Sherman and other House Democrats noted during the press conference that besides California, states including North Carolina and Texas that have also faced natural disasters in the past two years are also waiting for more federal aid.
“Hopefully, even if he (Trump) doesn’t care about California, his focus will be on North Carolina and Texas, and we’ll get something done,” Sherman said about the possibility of Congress approving supplemental aid.
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, accused Trump of not honoring his word, saying that during a visit to Southern California last January after the fires, the president had told residents that help was coming.
“It’s been a year. And the $33.9 billion in disaster aid still has not come,” Lieu said.
“There are more Republicans in Southern California than a number of red states,” he added. “So we’re calling on the president to honor his word and Speaker Johnson to stop harming Republicans in Southern California and deliver this disaster aid immediately.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this article.
Johnson’s office, in an email, said that “Congress must receive the formal disaster aid request from the administration. Until then, it would be premature for Congress to consider.”
The email further stated that neither the speaker nor Congress “have involvement in crafting the disaster aid request in question as this is determined by FEMA’s calculations and evaluation of needs.”
Earlier in the day, Schiff, the junior senator from California, also called for the speedy delivery of federal aid.
“Natural disasters do not discriminate between party, nor should parties discriminate between disasters when Americans are in need of our help,” he said. “We owe it to the survivors and to the memories of those we lost to act, just as we would for any other natural disaster, anywhere in the country.”
Padilla, meanwhile, on Wednesday announced bipartisan legislation with U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy, a Republican from Montana, to establish a new grant program that would help local communities harden themselves against wildfires. The Community Protection and Wildfire Resilience Act would set aside $1 billion annually to support communities in implementing science-based measures that protect homes from wildfire damage.
“One year ago today, Pacific Palisades and Altadena families lost loved ones, homes, businesses, places of worship, and so much more as their neighborhoods were reduced to rubble,” Padilla said. “These catastrophic disasters serve as a stark reminder that megafires can devastate both forested and urban areas.”
Padilla and Sheehy co-chair the bipartisan Senate Wildfire Caucus.
A bipartisan House version of the bill will be led by California Reps. Jay Obernolte, a Republican from San Bernardino County, and Jared Huffman, a Democrat from Marin County, according to Padilla’s office.