It wasn’t long ago President Trump said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) should be eliminated. In June, Trump argued that cities, counties, and states should be responsible for disaster relief, not the federal government. FEMA’s funding was slashed by almost $650 million in the FY26 budget, and the White House stopped $11 billion in disaster payments to states.
A new executive order (EO) from the White House indicates however that Trump has found a new purpose for the agency. On January 27, Trump issued an EO outlining the role FEMA could play in rebuilding California’s fire-torn neighborhoods.
Addressing State and Local Failures to Rebuild Los Angeles After Wildfire Disasters gives the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, who presides over FEMA, and the Small Business Administration (SBA) the ability to override California building permitting regulations.
This would “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,” the EO states. Per its terms, FEMA and SBA have been directed to consider ways to speed up permitting and approval, and submit recommendations to the Trump administration.
The EO also asks for an audit of funding California previously received to mitigate hazards. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the EO a “political stunt” and said Trump should instead focus his efforts on reeling in private equity firms and real estate investors buying up swaths of Altadena, and other locales decimated by the wildfires.
California Governor Gavin Newsom demanded the White House approve the state’s $34 billion disaster aid request. (On January 29, FEMA announced $2.2 billion in disaster relief funding to support recovery in areas struck by natural disasters, California was not listed.)
Bass previously appointed Steve Soboroff, a Los Angeles real estate developer, as Chief Recovery Officer (CRA), as part of her administration’s L.A. Strong: Return and Rebuild program. But Bass and Soboroff had a falling out, and Soboroff resigned from the post after just three months on the job in April 2025.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem affirmed last summer: “The president and I have had many, many discussions about this agency. I want to be very clear. The President wants it eliminated as it currently exists. He wants a new agency.”
FEMA was established in 1979. In 2003, President Bush’s Homeland Security Act created the DHS, which brought FEMA and 20 other organizations into its purview, including ICE. FEMA’s reputation was tarnished after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 for its abysmal response to the natural disaster in New Orleans.
With this new EO, it appears Noem and the Trump administration more broadly have changed course.
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