WASHINGTON — California’s lawmakers urged their leaders in Congress on Friday to continue funding federal aid in the wake of the L.A. fires, amid a congressional budget battle and questions about possible conditions being imposed by the Trump administration.
Their letter — signed by all 54 House and Senate members — marks the latest step in a months-long political fight to ensure California keeps getting the money it needs to clean up the destruction and rebuild after the devastating wildfires in January.
“The road to full recovery is long, and while the response from the federal government has been incredibly helpful to date, additional funding and resources will be needed,” read the letter sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
The request for funds comes as Congress is in the middle of its own budget negotiations. Congress must vote to continue funding the government or risk a shutdown by March 14.
Days after the wildfires exploded across Los Angeles County, President Biden committed the federal government to backing 100% of disaster assistance costs to California through June. The funding, approved through fire management grants and a disaster declaration, is going toward the first phase of recovery, including clearing debris, removing hazardous materials and continuing to pay first-responder salaries.
But whether President Trump will keep Biden’s promise — or how Congress decides to address the funding in its budget — remains unclear.
Long before becoming president again, Trump had harangued California, promising to withhold federal aid for wildfire relief. When the L.A. fires erupted days before he took office, California’s fears of being left without support materialized.
President Trump speaks with officials during a January tour of Pacific Palisades fire damage.
(Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)
But Trump’s first trip as president was to tour the wildfire damage in Los Angeles, where he seemed moved by the destruction he witnessed and pledged to waive or expedite federal permits or possibly tariffs, to speed up the rebuilding process.
“I’m going to give you everything you want,” he told a roundtable of officials and residents. “I’m going to give you more than any president would have ever given you.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who unabashedly showed his disdain for Trump on the 2024 campaign trail, followed the president’s visit to California with a visit of his own to Washington, D.C., with the explicit goal of securing continued wildfire aid.
“In a time of need and crisis, people need to see their representatives working together,” Newsom said during his visit. “I have no patience for people not working together in a crisis.”
Newsom again reiterated his needs to leaders in Washington in a letter late last month asking for nearly $40 billion from various federal departments.
Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have floated the possibility of tying future aid to California to certain conditions. Trump’s special envoy in charge of the wildfire response, Ric Grenell, said that the future of federal wildfire aid would include restricting the California Coastal Commission, which regulates development along the state’s coastal zones and protects public access to the beach.
The California lawmakers’ letter seemed to nod at the unusual step of conditioning disaster relief aid.
“Just as the federal government has come to the aid of communities impacted by wildfires across the western United States, tornados 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 read.