Trump's budget request leaves out money for LA fire relief, drawing criticism from members
WASHINGTON — Two Democratic senators on Thursday criticized the Trump administration after it asked Congress for $87.6 billion to address the country's “urgent needs” but left out funding for victims of last year's Los Angeles wildfires.
“Donald Trump's desire to punish Los Angeles and the state of California for not voting for him, also means that thousands of Angelinos are left to watch this state fight for nothing but them, their businesses, and their communities,” said Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff in a joint statement.
“These fires did not discriminate according to party or politics. Neither should this administration,” he added.
The shortfall is the latest rift between California leaders and the Trump administration over federal disaster aid, and comes after Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger met with President Trump in the Oval Office in April to ask for funding.
At the meeting, Trump expressed his commitment to working with local officials to help with disaster recovery efforts. Officials asked for $16 billion to be split between the city and county. The money will primarily include funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for communities affected by the fires, which are part of the $33.9-billion wildfire relief request made by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Two months later, those talks have not yielded the results local leaders want.
The budget request, filed by the Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday, specifically seeks Pentagon funding to cover costs related to the Iran war. It also includes $11.1 billion in economic aid for America's farmers, $1.4 billion to deal with the Ebola virus outbreak in Central Africa, $500 million to fund “continued efforts to complete restoration and construction projects” in the nation's capital and $1 billion to improve employee pensions at General Motors that were cut due to the company's bankruptcy.
“I urge Congress to act on these important and urgent requests as soon as possible,” White House budget director Russell Vought wrote in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Vought said the administration is open to discussing “additional relief for other emergencies.” The White House did not immediately respond when asked why the budget request did not mention relief funds for the Eaton and Palisades disasters.
Federal leaders, including Newsom, have repeatedly accused the Trump administration of raking in billions in wildfire aid. The governor visited Washington in December to meet with lawmakers, including three who serve on the Senate and House appropriations committees, to seek funding.
The governor also tried to meet with FEMA on the matter, but said his request was denied. Newsom, a political foe of Trump, would not say whether he had tried to meet with Trump to discuss recovery efforts.
