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President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order addressing California’s state and local-level failures to rebuild key parts of Los Angeles following the devastating Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon fires in 2025.
The order aims to “cut through bureaucratic red tape and speed up reconstruction in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon areas one year after devastating wildfires destroyed nearly 40,000 acres of homes and businesses.”
It directs the administrator of FEMA and the SBA to issue regulations preempting state and local “procedural permitting requirements,” which will enable builders to “self-certify to a Federal agency designee…”
It also orders FEMA to determine whether California’s nearly $3 billion in unspent grant program funding (Hazard Mitigation Grant Program) was awarded lawfully. The overall goal of the order is to dodge the lengthy and frozen permitting processes in California and Los Angeles that have left thousands unable to rebuild.
The Palisades fire, which destroyed tens of thousands of acres of home and business property in the once-lush Southern California region, was one of the most devastating fires in recent state and local LA history.
California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom has reportedly slowed down the rebuilding process to pave the way for low-income housing in the area. Last summer, Gov. Newsom rolled out a $101 million rebuilding effort to construct “affordable multifamily rental housing,” effectively erasing the formerly beautiful neighborhoods with “equitable” housing options.
President Trump’s EO is meant to preemptively avoid state permitting obstacles, per the text of the document.
“I want to see if we can take over the city and state and just give the people their permits they want to build,” President Trump told the newly-launched California Post this week.
According to the outlet, of the 16,000 structures destroyed in the 2025 fires, LA City and County have issued only 2,600 rebuild permits to date, a full year after the fire raged.