XPost: alt.los-angeles, alt.politics.trump, alt.government.employees   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   From: leroysoetoro@americans-first.com   
      
   President Donald Trump has issued a second executive order aimed at   
   accelerating rebuilding in Los Angeles neighborhoods devastated by the   
   2025 Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon wildfires — immediately prompting   
   sharp backlash from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who says the administration is   
   withholding disaster aid, mischaracterizing the state’s progress, and   
   attempting an unprecedented federal takeover of local permitting   
   authority.   
      
   Newsom’s office called the order “useless,” insisted local permitting   
   timelines have already doubled in speed since the fires, and argued that   
   the true barrier to recovery is the federal government’s refusal to   
   release funding that survivors have been waiting for. His administration   
   accused Trump of politicizing disaster recovery, ignoring facts on water   
   supply and forest management, and failing to provide promised support for   
   displaced residents.   
      
   Here's what to know about the executive order and California's reaction to   
   it.   
      
   Executive order cites 'catastrophic failures' in wildfire response   
   The Jan. 23 directive — titled “Failures to Rebuild Los Angeles After the   
   Wildfire Disasters” — accuses state and local leaders, including Newsom   
   and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, of ignoring forest-management needs,   
   mismanaging water systems, and slowing rebuilding with duplicative and   
   “obstructive” permitting rules. The administration argues that only a   
   fraction of destroyed homes and businesses have been rebuilt a year after   
   the fires.   
      
   The order echoes the administration’s January 2025 action, which blamed   
   California’s environmental and water-management policies for intensifying   
   wildfires and authorized federal agencies to override state water   
   restrictions and accelerate environmental waivers.   
      
   Federal government seeks power to bypass local permits   
   Under the new directive, FEMA and the Small Business Administration must   
   draft regulations allowing federal agencies to preempt local building   
   permits for wildfire-affected properties funded with federal relief   
   dollars. Builders could “self-certify” that they meet state and local   
   safety codes, bypassing inspections by cities and counties — a sweeping   
   federal intrusion into the land-use authority long held by local   
   governments.   
      
   The order also requires the agencies to propose legislation giving   
   Washington expanded power to intervene when state or local governments   
   “fail to enable timely recovery,” and mandates a federal audit of nearly   
   $3 billion in California hazard-mitigation grants.   
      
   Newsom: 'Mr. President, please actually help us'   
   The governor’s response was immediate and blistering.   
      
   “With 1,625+ home permits issued, hundreds under construction, and   
   permitting timelines at least 2× faster than before the fires, an   
   executive order to rebuild Mars would do just as useful,” Newsom’s press   
   office posted on X on Jan. 27. “The Feds need to release funding — not   
   take over local permit approval.”   
      
   “Mr. President, please actually help us. We are begging you,” the   
   statement continued. “Release the federal disaster aid you’re   
   withholding.”   
      
   Newsom added in a separate post: “Instead of finally sending to Congress   
   the federal relief Los Angeles needs to rebuild from last year’s   
   firestorms, Donald Trump continues to live in fantasy land.”   
      
   Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Newsom, said Trump “is a clueless idiot”   
   who misunderstands how local permitting and California’s water system   
   work. She also noted that more than half of California's forests are   
   federally managed, compared with only about 3% managed by the state.   
      
   The Trump administration also has repeatedly argued that “empty   
   reservoirs” hindered the wildfire response. But a November report from   
   multiple California agencies found Southern California’s water supplies   
   were robust and that many major reservoirs were “at or above their   
   historic average storage.”   
      
   In a letter to Senate and House of Representatives leaders in December,   
   Newsom sought over $33 billion in funding for recovery efforts. It was a   
   revised figure, down over $5 billion from a February request “based on   
   work that has already been paid out during the cleanup process, paid out   
   in public assistance and disbursed to small businesses.”   
      
   While the press office did not specifically address how the executive   
   order may affect current rebuilding policies, Gallegos said that more than   
   half of California's forests are federally managed, with the state   
   managing only about 3% of forestland. Gallegos also linked back to a post   
   from Newsom last January, in which he said Southern California's water   
   supplies are well-equipped to support communities fighting the wildfires.   
      
   Fire survivors say rebuilding remains slow, call for housing aid   
   If you ask people impacted by the fires what’s the biggest thing holding   
   them up, it’s not permitting, Joy Chen said in an interview with the USA   
   TODAY Network. Rather, it’s a lack of funds, the executive director of the   
   Eaton Fire Survivors Network said.   
      
   Trump’s order notes that wildfire victims remain displaced “without a   
   source of income.” The Eaton Fire Survivors Network is urging Southern   
   California Edison to provide up to $200,000 per household in temporary   
   housing advances, to be deducted from final settlements.   
      
   Edison said in December that its equipment “is likely” to have been   
   associated with the Eaton Fire’s ignition.   
      
   Those who’ve begun the rebuild process are either those with “pre-fire   
   wealth” or the “lucky few” whose insurance company has paid out fully,   
   Chen said. It’s been a “mixed bag” on what the director has heard   
   regarding the permit process, though she emphasized the biggest problem   
   remains financial.   
      
   What’s really needed from the federal government is the nearly $34 billion   
   in federal aid, Chen said.   
      
   “The number one thing that we really need them to do is to move forward   
   with that funding that is so desperately needed so that we can rebuild our   
   homes,” Chen said.   
      
   But the government can also meet two other current needs: Help those   
   impacted by the fires hold insurance companies accountable in their   
   efforts to access the money they’re owed — money that’s needed to rebuild   
   — and to “call on” Southern California Edison to advance the urgent   
   housing relief needed so that people can stay housed, according to Chen.   
      
   Related: ‘Recovery is failing survivors.' Eaton Fire victims need aid a   
   year later   
      
   At a recent first-anniversary press conference, the Survivors Network said   
   Edison, insurance companies, and the federal government collectively owe   
   survivors “tens of billions.”   
      
   Across Los Angeles County, nearly 3,000 rebuild applications have been   
   filed, with just over 1,300 permits issued, not including additional   
   approvals in Los Angeles, Malibu, and Pasadena.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)