Trump’s executive order seeks to speed up the rebuilding of homes after the Los Angeles wildfires

LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has signed an executive order to “cut bureaucratic red tape” and speed up the rebuilding of tens of thousands of homes destroyed by wildfires in the Los Angeles area in January 2025.

Trump’s order, signed Friday, seeks to allow homeowners to rebuild without facing “unnecessary, duplicative, or burdensome” permit requirements, the White House said in a statement.

He watches: One year after devastating Los Angeles wildfires, communities are struggling to rebuild

The order directs FEMA and the Small Business Administration to find a way to issue regulations that would preempt state and local rules for permits and allow construction companies to “self-certify” that they have adhered to “objective health, safety and construction standards.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom scoffed at the idea that the federal government could issue local rebuilding permits and urged Trump to approve the state’s request for $33.9 billion in disaster assistance. Newsom has traveled to Washington, D.C., to defend the funds, but the administration has not yet approved them.

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

“An executive order to rebuild Mars would be equally helpful,” Newsom wrote on social media. He added: “Please really help us. We are begging you.”

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

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

It was not immediately clear what authority the federal government would exercise over local and state permits. The order also directs federal agencies to expedite waivers, permits and approvals to work around any environmental, historic or natural resource laws that may stand in the way of rebuilding.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement that instead of trying to interfere with the permitting process, the Trump administration should speed up FEMA reimbursements.

Bass called Trump’s move a “political ploy” and said the president should issue an executive order “to require the insurance industry to pay people for their losses so survivors can afford to rebuild, push the banking industry to extend the mortgage forbearance period by three years, topping up the 30-year mortgage, and bring the banks together to create a special fund to make interest-free loans to evict survivors.”

Rebuilding plans in Pacific Palisades were approved in half the time compared to single-family home projects citywide before the wildfires, “with more than 70% of homes not needing permits,” the mayor said.

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

“The No. 1 constraint for survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires right now is money,” Chen said, 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 a third of survivors cited rebuilding costs and insurance payments as major obstacles to rebuilding in a December survey by Angels Management, a nonprofit that advocates for survivors of Los Angeles fires, while 21% cited allowing delays and barriers.

Additionally, Trump’s executive order also directs U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FEMA Acting Administrator Karen Evans to review California’s use of Hazard Mitigation Grant program funding, a typical add-on in major disasters that enables states to rebuild with greater resilience. The audit must be completed within 60 days, after which Noem and Evans are directed to determine whether future conditions should be placed on the financing or even possible “clawback or clawback actions.”

Trump has not approved a single state request for HMGP funding since March, part of a broader effort to reduce federal funding for climate change mitigation.

Aoun Anguera reported from San Diego.