Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday marked the six-month anniversary of the Eton and Palisades fires with a call from billions of federal fundraisers to help the state recover wildfires, providing ferocious criticism of the Trump administration’s recent immigration attacks at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles.
So far, the GOP-led U.S. House of Representatives has not advanced $40 billion in additional wildfire funding to rebuild schools, churches, homes and hospitals for requests made by Newsom in late February.
Newsom said fire funding is a nonpartisan issue, and that all US states are “together.” He said other states have significant demands for federal aid after their own natural disasters, and that the Republican-controlled House will come “absolutely.” He urged Congressmen to do the same in Texas after last week’s fatal flooding.
“South Carolina, I think they should get all the pennies they need,” Newsom said. “North Carolina, they should have all the pennies they need. …We hope we have a grasp of the path, a bipartisan path to helping the people of the United States.
But once again he finds himself in a conflicting position of seeking disaster aid while criticizing Republicans.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was scheduled to appear at an event at Pasadena City College, but was not present after a large armed federal immigration agent riding a horse that came down to MacArthur Park.
Newsom said the immigrant raids are evidence of President Trump’s “polluted heart” and a shift from weeks when he tried to hit a more reconciliatory tone when he sought more federal aid from Congress and the White House.
Federal government jobs in Los Angeles County include a record-breaking debris removal program run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Newsom said Monday that 9,195 of the 9,873 properties registered under the federal government’s debris removal program have been cleared. Those figures do not include commercial buildings not included in the Army Corps program or around 2,000 property owners who chose to hire their own private contractors to remove debris.
According to Newsom, the clearance is the fastest in California history, surpassing the cleanup following the 2018 Camp and Woolsey fire.
The federal government reimbursed state and local governments directly for handling costs and paid for cleaning their own wreckage, said Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the governor. The federal government is also providing more than $3 billion in personal assistance to homeowners and small business loans, he said.
The long-term recovery funds that the federal government normally provides the nation after a disaster are expected to be decided by Congress after lawmakers return to work in September, Ferguson said.
Judy Chew (D-Monterey Park) and Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), who represent Altadena and Pacific Pallisade in Congress, said they are continuing to push the Congress’ supplementary aid package with “no strings.” Some Republicans have proposed linking aid to California policy decisions, such as changes to water policy or voter identification laws.
Sherman said California’s $4 billion demand could pass the House “as a supplement to include Texas disasters and other disasters.”
It appears Newsom and Trump set aside their political differences in January when commanders traveled to Los Angeles to investigate the damage caused by the wildfire. After accepting the runway at Los Angeles International Airport, the two sparring partners pledged to work together to rebuild a community that was damaged by the fire.
Hours before the in-person meeting, the president had agreed to adopt a more stringent voter identification law, threatening to condition California wildfire funding. Trump has continued to point his fingers to Newsom since the meeting, calling the governor and local officials “incompetent.”
During his final days at the White House, President Biden pledged to cover 100% of the federal government’s disaster relief costs to California for 180 days, and the Trump administration “respected its commitment.”
However, Newsom has not hampered the sharp criticism of the president’s leadership over other key topics, such as immigration, tariffs and healthcare funding. After discussing the state’s response to the wildfires, Newsom denounced the federal immigrant attack at MacArthur Park on Monday as “disgrace.”
The timing wasn’t a coincidence, Newsom said. He said an estimated 41% of the state’s construction workforce works without legal status, and immigration attacks could shake up the sector, the “basic” of the state’s recovery.
“They know what they’re doing,” he said. “And again, they don’t know what they’re doing. Their ignorance is legendary. And this impact feels like a recovery – and it’s on them. Donald Trump owns it.
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