Trump signs order to take over Los Angeles wildfire recovery from California officials

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at fast-tracking the rebuilding of tens of thousands of homes destroyed by the January 2025 Los Angeles area wildfires.

The order, signed on Friday, seeks to bypass what the White House described as "unnecessary, duplicative, or obstructive" permitting requirements, allowing homeowners to reconstruct properties more swiftly.

It directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to devise regulations that would override state and local permitting rules, enabling builders to "self-certify" compliance with "substantive health, safety, and building standards."

However, California Governor Gavin Newsom dismissed the notion of federal intervention in local rebuilding permits. He instead urged Trump to approve the state's outstanding $33.9 billion disaster aid request, a sum he has traveled to Washington to advocate for, but which remains unapproved by the administration.

The Democratic governor said on social media that more than 1,600 rebuilding permits have been issued in Los Angeles and officials are moving at a fast pace.

“An executive order to rebuild Mars would do just as useful,” Newsom wrote on social media. He added, “please actually help us. We are begging you.”

Fewer than a dozen homes had been rebuilt in Los Angeles County as of Jan. 7, one year after the fires began, The Associated Press found. About 900 homes were under construction.

The Palisades and Eaton fires killed 31 people and destroyed about 13,000 residential properties. The fires burned for more than three weeks and clean-up efforts took about seven months.

It wasn’t immediately clear what power the federal government could wield over local and state permitting. The order also directs federal agencies to expedite waivers, permits and approvals to work around any environmental, historic preservation or natural resource laws that might stand in the way of rebuilding.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass did not immediately comment on Trump's order.

Permitting assistance is “always welcome,” said Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivor’s Network, a coalition of more than 10,000 Eaton and Palisades fire survivors, but it’s not the primary concern for people trying to rebuild.

“The number one barrier to Eaton and Palisades fire survivors right now is money,” said Chen, as survivors struggle to secure payouts from insurance companies and face staggering gaps between the money they have to rebuild and actual construction costs.

Nearly one-third of survivors cited rebuild costs and insurance payouts as primary obstacles to rebuilding in a December survey by the Department of Angels, a nonprofit that advocates for LA fire survivors, while 21 percent mentioned permitting delays and barriers.