It’s been almost two years since deadly wildfires tore through Altadena and Pacific Palisades. And nearly two years that these Southern California communities have been waiting for federal aid to help them fully rebuild and recover.
State and local officials have sought help from the federal government, and while there has been some assistance, California Democrats feel the Trump administration hasn’t always been cooperative.
With Democrats soon to control both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, some officials and fire survivors are hopeful Congress will finally direct federal dollars to communities that need the aid.
Others are skeptical, believing that as long as President Donald Trump remains in the Oval Office, he could continue to exert influence over the Federal Emergency Management Agency or Republicans in Congress, or veto any bill Congress might send him that includes aid for California.
Rep. Judy Chu, who represents communities impacted by the Eaton fire, expressed hope that with Democrats gaining control of Congress in January, billions of dollars in recovery money that had been promised to California will finally start flowing to fire survivors and L.A. County.
She and other California Democrats hope to meet with Republicans from red states who have experienced disasters of their own to work on a bipartisan aid bill, Chu said recently while attending an event in her district.
“I can’t wait to go back to Washington, D.C. and lobby for it. Because in Washington, it is a whole new day,” Chu, D-Monterey Park, said in an interview.
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, who represents the Palisades, also signaled that he was more hopeful than before the midterms, though he cautioned the effort is not a slam dunk.
During Trump’s visit to the Palisades in January 2025, the president said to local leaders after surveying the devastation, “I’m going to give you everything you want.”
But Sherman pointed to Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s repeated requests for aid since then. Newsom, who is high on Trump’s list of political adversaries, initially requested close to $40 billion, a figure the governor has since revised downwards. Politico reported in May that the request was again revised down to about $15.7 billion.
But Democrats say there’s been a lack of action on the part of the Trump administration to these requests.
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis called criticisms of the federal government’s response “yet another attempt by Governor Newsom and California Democrats to pass blame for the horrible mismanagement of the L.A. wildfires and recovery efforts.”
“There is no politicization to the president’s decisions on disaster relief,” she said in a statement Friday, Nov. 13.
“The Trump administration has obligated billions to supplement the California wildfire response and recovery, even extending the period of time for providing financial assistance to homeowners and renters, since the state is unable to meet the needs of their own residents,” she added. “Disaster recovery is supposed to be managed by local and state leaders with supplemental assistance provided by the federal government.”
Meanwhile, local survivors, nonprofits, political leaders and faith groups that have been trying to put their towns back together following the fires are frustrated that their communities haven’t received more funding.
Martin Gordon, chair and CEO of the Pasadena Community Coalition, who lost his Altadena home in the Eaton fire, said after waiting nearly two years for relief, some of his neighbors have given up on the idea of government assistance.
“Nobody gives a crap about us,” Gordon said. “No one. They don’t care whether we survive or not.”
Gordon called the optimism some are projecting with the upcoming change in Congress an illusion, noting that Trump could still veto Democratic lawmakers’ bills. In addition, Trump made clear how little he cared about Altadena, Gordon said, by not stopping in the town during the president’s visit to Los Angeles right after the fires.
“Yes, we have ‘blue tsunami’ and I think this is all great,” Gordon said. “I think that we will be able to get some things accomplished. The fire is not one of them.”
Others are a bit more optimistic, though cautiously so.
Attorney, writer and nonprofit founder Shimica Gaskins is part of Dena Rise Up, a coalition of fire survivors working for an equitable reconstruction of Altadena and Pasadena.
She said the electoral wave that gave Democrats a seismic victory in the midterm elections has her hopeful about what this moment could mean for Altadena, “not because the election alone will solve the challenges our community continues to face, but because it creates an opportunity for renewed attention, greater urgency, and a stronger commitment to getting our families the relief they need.”
It’s been more than 670 days of waiting for federal aid, noted Nic Arnzen, chair of the Altadena Town Council, an advisory board to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. He spoke of broken promises regarding disaster aid as well as federal tariffs that have increased the cost of rebuilding and said Democrats’ resounding victory in the midterm elections demonstrates that Americans are “tired of the games” being played politically and “ready for real change.”
“We have been waiting too long for the help we deserve, and while I know we will not stop this fight until we get it, I do have renewed faith in how soon that might be,” he said.
Meanwhile, L.A. City Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the city’s Westside, said she’s “encouraged by the continued momentum we’re seeing with our federal agency partners.”
“And I have additional reason to be hopeful about securing congressional appropriations in January to support the Palisades recovery,” she added.
L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Altadena, said she’s hopeful that federal dollars to help with disaster recovery will start to come in.
“Altadena families have waited long enough. Their ability to rebuild should never depend on politics,” said Barger, adding that she welcomes Chu’s plan to work with Republicans whose communities have also been hurt by disasters on bipartisan legislation.
“We need members of Congress on both sides working together to get survivors the … resources they desperately need,” Barger added.
In April, Barger, a Republican, and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, met with Trump in D.C. to make their case for aid or other federal support. The two L.A.-area officials later described the discussion as “positive.”
But more than six months later, with county offices still waiting on money they had requested, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday directed county staff to report back to the board on the status of pending applications for federal aid and legal actions the county could potentially take to secure those dollars.
“Our fire survivors have already been through hell. Some are still living in what is supposed to be a temporary rental unit, wondering when they’ll have a home to return to. They should not have to spend another day waiting on a federal government that overpromised and underdelivered,” said Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. The Democrat, who represents the Palisades, introduced a motion which the board passed, calling for a review of the county’s legal options for pursuing federal funding.
L.A. County has requested more than $455 million in FEMA reimbursements for approximately 190 disaster response and recovery projects, but less than $1.4 million has been received, according to the motion, which noted that the majority of projects have cleared FEMA’s initial technical and oversight reviews but remain pending final approval.
The county has also requested $347 million in federal hazard mitigation funds to protect communities from future disasters. These projects include fire-hardening homes and public facilities, undergrounding power lines, and strengthening water systems. Not one dollar of that funding has been awarded, the motion said.
In July, The Associated Press reported that in his second term, Trump had so far approved 80% of disaster requests from Republican governors but only about 60% from Democratic governors, based on an analysis of FEMA data.
The analysis further found that Trump approved more than 75% of requests from states that voted for him in the 2024 presidential election but less than half the requests that came from states where he did not win.
A FEMA spokesperson told the AP last month that “any suggestion that disaster decisions are politically motivated does not reflect how this process works or how FEMA carries out its mission.”
Regardless, Jonathan Underland, a spokesperson for California’s incoming governor, said survivors of the Southern California wildfires “have waited too long” for federal aid.
“Governor-elect (Xavier) Becerra is focused on working with the new Democratic House and Senate to deliver those dollars so survivors can finally rebuild,” Underland said.
Sherman, the congressmember representing the Palisades, said up to now, the Republican-controlled Congress hadn’t voted on supplemental aid for disaster victims – but that could soon change.
“Trump simply instructed Republicans not to consider it, so we don’t have a big black Sharpie with a signature with the word ‘veto’ on it. We just have Congress not acting,” Sherman said.
But now, if Congress were to send Trump a bill for disaster aid and he vetoes it, the move could prove politically perilous for a president whose approval ratings have hovered in the 30- to 40-percentile, the congressmember said.
“I think it’s a bad look for the president to veto a supplement for disaster,” Sherman said.
He added that getting federal aid money to communities that are relying on it appears “more doable” with changes to the makeup of Congress coming soon.
“We’re certainly stronger now,” Sherman said. “And we’re in a stronger position in January.”
SCNG correspondent Michelle Edgar and The Associated Press contributed reporting.