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The disaster response agency, FEMA, is under the Department of Homeland Security, currently in a shutdown. But even before that, wildfire survivors in Los Angeles said they were being shorted billions of dollars in promised federal aid. California leaders say President Trump is withholding the funds due to blue-state politics. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports the reality is more complicated.
KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: Nicole Wirth feels like she's running out of options. She lost everything in the Eaton Fire.
NICOLE WIRTH: I feel very alone, and I think a lot of fire survivors feel that way.
SIEGLER: Wirth has a building permit, but like most of her neighbors, she's learned she's underinsured. When she applied with FEMA for a loan to help cover the difference, she got denied. The only federal aid so far was an initial emergency check.
WIRTH: Seven hundred and seventy dollars, which was great. And then now what we're learning is to get more money requires a ton of documents, a ton of work, no real connection, nobody to really help us navigate that.
SIEGLER: FEMA's assistance center closed only a few months after the fires, and the feds didn't test for toxins and soils to the extent they usually do. There's desperation here in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Good luck finding, let alone building, a two-bedroom home for under a million.
WIRTH: I think that there may be a lack of support by the federal government because we are in a Democratic-leaning community, and that certainly does not seem fair.
SIEGLER: The complaints against FEMA had been rolling in long before last week's partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. So far, FEMA has not been prevented from distributing aid money. In emails to NPR, FEMA added that, quote, "an unprecedented level of support has been provided under Secretary Kristi Noem."
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SIEGLER: There's some rebuilding here in the Pacific Palisades. California has gotten about 6 billion of the 40 billion requested by Governor Gavin Newsom. But when the fires first ignited, then-President Biden promised the feds would pay for 100% of the recovery.
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LEE ZELDIN: Thank you all for being here. I'm EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
SIEGLER: Amid accusations, Trump is snubbing California. Several cabinet members travel to the Palisades this month for meetings with local leaders and survivors. EPA chief Lee Zeldin, Trump's newly appointed recovery leader, said they were productive.
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ZELDIN: The president wants to tear through every single obstacle that's in front of him at Trump's speed.
SIEGLER: Zeldin assured more aid is coming, but signaled to reporters that stipulations might come with it, like changes to forest management. Then he turned his sights on Governor Newsom, a likely presidential candidate, saying his $40 billion request is too high.
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ZELDIN: In between insults, you know, four and five of the day, he's like, oh, by the way, where are my tens of billions of dollars that are far above what the locals are asking for?
SIEGLER: California leaders bristled at that assertion. Now, one thing that didn't get much attention in the cabinet visit is the requirement that DHS Secretary Noem personally review any aid request higher than a hundred thousand dollars, which is widely seen as adding to funding delays.
MICHAEL COEN: Yeah. I mean, that's nothing that I have ever seen before.
SIEGLER: Michael Coen was FEMA chief of staff under Presidents Biden and Obama. He says FEMA, not DHS leaders, has the expertise to evaluate and prioritize aid requests.
COEN: I would hate for the people of California to not receive funding that they're entitled to and that Congress has appropriated for programs because the state didn't vote for the president.
SIEGLER: And in the burn zones in Democratic-heavy LA right now, there's a frustration that DHS's priority is immigration enforcement, not helping wildfire victims.
BILL GOULD: Where's your focus here? Like, the focus should be on the disaster, you know, and helping people recover.
SIEGLER: In Altadena, Bill Gould is struggling to find the money to pay for more soil testing before he can apply for a building permit. He thinks the recent executive order that aims to override local rules is misguided.
GOULD: Trump sort of had a statement just the other day that he was going to take over. I think it's a political stunt. Taking over when you're withholding money, that's, like, ridiculous talk.
SIEGLER: Gould recently traveled to D.C. with survivors of the Texas floods and the North Carolina hurricane to lobby Congress to take FEMA out from under DHS and make it politically independent. Gould sighs tiredly. He's not sure Washington heard them.
Kirk Siegler, NPR News, Los Angeles.
(SOUNDBITE OF PEDRO RICARDO'S "TEMA 3") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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