LA wildfire survivors face record-breaking wait for federal disaster aid under Trump
Survivors of the January 2025 Los Angeles firestorm are still waiting for more than $15bn in federal recovery funds nearly 600 days on, surpassing the previous record wait set by Maui fire victims. Officials and advocates accuse the Trump administration of politicizing disaster aid.
Nearly 600 days after devastating fires tore through Los Angeles, destroying more than 16,000 structures, the Trump administration still has not appropriated over $15bn in long-term recovery funding. That wait now exceeds the previous record of 500 days, set by survivors of the Maui fires.
Former Washington governor Jay Inslee, who recently visited the fire-scarred Altadena neighborhood, said the area remains unable to recover and accused Trump of "strangling" affected communities by withholding emergency assistance.
Accusations of politicization
Attorneys general from 25 Democratic-led states, led by California's Rob Bonta, sued the administration in July, alleging that the Department of Homeland Security and Fema have pressured states to adopt the administration's preferred voting and immigration policies in exchange for disaster funding. Reports indicate Trump has approved only 23% of aid requests from Democratic-led states, compared with 89% from Republican-led states.
The fires, which broke out in January 2025, killed 31 people and destroyed homes, businesses, churches and schools. According to the nonprofit Department of Angels, roughly two-thirds of survivors remained displaced as of late July, nearly half have taken on debt to get by, and homeowners face an average rebuilding funding gap of about $500,000.
California Governor Gavin Newsom submitted an updated funding request in March, seeking about $10.5bn for housing and infrastructure rebuilding, $179m for business grants, and $3bn to replace damaged schools, libraries and parks. As of early August, these requests remained unapproved.
Similar concerns are now emerging in Spokane, Washington, where fires this month destroyed hundreds of homes, with officials hoping the delays seen in Los Angeles will not be repeated there.
