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California: Governor Newsom meets with congressional leaders to press for long-delayed LA wildfire aid

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Dec 5, 2025

Governor Newsom meets with congressional leaders to press for long-delayed LA wildfire aid

What you need to know: Governor Newsom spent the day in bipartisan meetings on Capitol Hill, urging Congress to break the unprecedented federal delay on LA wildfire recovery funds. Nearly a year after the fires, the Trump Administration still has not submitted a disaster aid package, leaving survivors without long-term federal support.

WASHINGTON D.C. – Governor Gavin Newsom spent the day on Capitol Hill meeting with key congressional leaders in both parties as part of his continued push to secure long-delayed federal wildfire recovery funding from the White House for Los Angeles families nearly one year after the catastrophic Palisades and Eaton Fires.

Today, I had productive meetings with leaders on both sides of the aisle who agreed that recovery funding is vital, while federal officials from the Trump administration turned their backs on survivors by refusing to even meet with us. President Trump's promise to 'take care' of survivors was clearly a lie. He isn't here for the people of Los Angeles, just like he isn't here for everyday Americans. That's not just disrespectful, it's a disgrace – and it's time for him to wake up and do his job.

Governor Gavin Newsom

Approaching the one-year anniversary of the fires, survivors are still waiting for long-term federal assistance as President Trump continues to withhold a federal aid package. The Governor's trip was a forceful push to rally congressional partners, build bipartisan support, and make clear the human and economic cost of continued federal inaction. Across every meeting — Republican and Democrat — the Governor made the same case: Los Angeles survivors need federal assistance now.

Finding common ground in a divided moment

Governor Newsom met with Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-Arkansas), whose committee is critical to the proposed Fix Our Forests Act and other essential wildfire resilience tools. The Governor and Senator Boozman discussed the increasingly severe wildfire seasons impacting both states, California's $60 billion agriculture economy, and the shared urgency to improve federal and state firefighting capacity — including the game-changing C-130 air tanker program, which Senator Boozman together with Senator Alex Padilla (D-California) and Rep. Ken Calvert (R-California) helped secure.

Governor Newsom raised the urgent need for small business disaster loans, long-term housing support, and expedited federal action. Senator Boozman and the Governor agreed that disaster recovery should not be a partisan issue.

The human and economic stakes of Trump's actions

The Governor also met with Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat (D-New York) and Senator Alex Padilla (D-California). The meeting stretched nearly an hour as the three leaders discussed not only wildfire aid, but the broader climate of fear and disruption Trump's mass-deportation agenda has unleashed in Los Angeles.

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The Governor described the escalation of CBP and ICE's aggression in the region and the ongoing trauma it's inflicting on communities already displaced by wildfire. The conversation underscored how California's communities are struggling to rebuild when federal agencies are simultaneously withholding disaster aid and escalating fear, and economic disruption.

Learning from one another

The Governor later met with Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California), who represents the Pacific Palisades, and then joined Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a key appropriator deeply familiar with the long-term recovery needs of disaster survivors in his own home state of Hawaii. Together with Senator Padilla, they discussed the remaining gap in federal assistance for LA and a bipartisan path to securing support. The Governor noted the Trump Administration's refusal to even send a staffer to discuss the issue, commenting on the broader politicization of the Trump administration. Both senators affirmed their commitment to pushing leadership and the Administration to act for Los Angeles, noting that the situation is now far outside historical norms for major federal disaster responses.

Trump abandons LA fire survivors

After the Los Angeles fires, Governor Newsom and the federal government worked to complete the fastest wildfire debris clean-up in U.S. history. The partnership between the state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency has been historic. But after cleanup comes rebuilding. Recovery entails a lot more than a clear lot.  It is essential that communities have the resources they need as they move into the next phase of rebuilding their lives.

Despite the President's promise made 11 months ago during his only trip to visit the Los Angeles fire recovery survivors, thousands of Californians in the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Pasadena, Malibu, and across Los Angeles are still waiting for the federal aid needed to rebuild homes, healthcare facilities, roads, schools, and essential services.

Congress has not acted to authorize the long-term recovery aid typically granted early in the next session after disasters of this magnitude as they await a formal request from the White House.

The delay has stalled rebuilding infrastructure, prolonged hardship for displaced families, and left low-income survivors and small businesses without federal support. As the Los Angeles community focuses on rebuilding homes, schools, utilities and critical infrastructure while also supporting small businesses and job growth in the impacted region, they cannot do it alone: the federal government plays a critical role as a partner to the state in this long-term recovery effort. Funding in this supplemental appropriation would:
  • Fund the rebuilding of schools, childcare centers, homes, and vital community facilities. This helps thousands of working families, veterans who lost homes, and thousands of students displaced from their schools.
  • Keep small businesses open, support the economy, and maintain jobs. LA's small businesses and family-owned enterprises are the backbone of our local and national economy. Disaster loans and grants will keep them open, preserve thousands of jobs, and spur wider economic recovery — benefiting Americans who may never set foot in Los Angeles but rely on its goods, services, and culture.
  • Restore damaged water systems, rebuild responder infrastructure, and improve air quality monitoring. This protects not only LA's population but the tens of millions who travel, conduct business, and interact with the region each year.

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