Homes destroyed by a 2020 wildfire in Talent, Ore. FEMA denied about 70% of assistance applications related to massive Oregon wildfires that year, an NPR investigation found. The agency has a long history of failing to help vulnerable disaster survivors, but reforms under the Biden administration were starting to fix those long-standing problems.
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Noah Berger
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Topline:
Recent fixes to long-standing problems at the Federal Emergency Management Agency are in jeopardy as the Trump administration slashes programs and cuts staff, emergency experts warn.
The backstory: FEMA has been plagued for decades by accusations that it fails to help the most vulnerable victims of disasters. Poor people, racial minorities and those who live in rural and tribal areas have been chronically ignored or denied crucial help after disasters, with long-term and even deadly consequences for families, NPR investigations have found.
Why is matters: The agency has cut billions of dollars of programs and lost hundreds of staff. A recent White House budget request for FEMA included a significant increase in disaster relief funding, but a presidentially appointed FEMA review council is working on recommendations to pare down or eliminate the agency.
Read on... what the Trump administration changes mean for the agency.
Recent fixes to long-standing problems at the Federal Emergency Management Agency are in jeopardy as the Trump administration slashes programs and cuts staff, emergency experts warn.
FEMA has been plagued for decades by accusations that it fails to help the most vulnerable victims of disasters. Poor people, racial minorities and those who live in rural and tribal areas have been chronically ignored or denied crucial help after disasters, with long-term and even deadly consequences for families, NPR investigations have found.
Under the Biden administration, FEMA took some concrete steps to address those problems. For example, the agency simplified forms that disaster victims must fill out to apply for money, loosened requirements to prove residency and made some money for essential items like food and diapers available immediately.
Now, some of those efforts have been canceled, while others face an uncertain future. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that he believed FEMA should not exist in its current form. He has also moved to eliminate so-called equity programs meant to ensure that the federal government serves Americans from all economic, geographic and ethnic groups.
The agency has cut billions of dollars of programs and lost hundreds of staff. A recent White House budget request for FEMA included a significant increase in disaster relief funding, but a presidentially appointed FEMA review council is working on recommendations to pare down or eliminate the agency.
FEMA did not respond to questions from NPR about how it intends to help all Americans adequately after disasters, or whether reforms made under the Biden administration will be rolled back.
"There was a lot of headway being made," says Chauncia Willis-Johnson, the former emergency manager for Tampa, Fla., and the leader of the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management. "Now, not only have we stopped, but we've actually regressed."
Baby steps for a plagued agency
Under the Biden administration, the goal at FEMA was to make sure every disaster victim got what they needed to recover and be protected against the next disaster, says then-FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell. "No two communities are alike, they all have different needs, and we can't apply a one-size-fits-all application of programs," she explains. "And so that was the focus: equity."
For example, imagine two different people, both struggling after a hurricane: The first is a parent who rented a now-damaged apartment in a city. The second is an elderly person who owns a damaged house in a rural area. One might need immediate cash to get food and diapers and pay for a hotel. The other might need in-person help filling out forms online or transportation to pick up crucial medication.
FEMA also brought in a high-level advocate for rural communities, and another one for tribal communities, to help the agency serve those populations better. And FEMA made it easier for people to prove where they lived, especially if they were living in a family home that had been passed down over many generations and no longer had a mortgage or a clear deed tied to the current occupants.
People who are staying with family members without a lease agreement, or who have inherited property informally, have long struggled to get federal help rebuilding after extreme weather, despite the fact that such families are less likely to have home insurance.
While the long-standing problems at FEMA were far from fixed at the end of the Biden administration, such equity policies were a step in the right direction, according to disaster experts.
"Was FEMA necessarily doing a good job? They weren't perfect," says Willis-Johnson. But "there were a lot of positive movements made within the last five years."
Donnie Speight's home in DeQuincy, La., was badly damaged by a hurricane in 2020. She struggled to get adequate assistance from FEMA, and spoke to NPR for an investigation that found the agency chronically ignored and failed to help those who needed it the most. Biden-era reforms meant to correct that pattern are now in jeopardy.
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Serving those most in need
One of President Trump's first actions when he took office in January was to sign an executive order banning so-called diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the federal government. That order led to the cancellation of at least one major disaster staffing program, known as FEMA Corps, which trained and deployed young people to help after disasters.
Earlier this spring, FEMA also canceled a major disaster preparedness grant program that had awarded tens of billions of dollars to help underserved rural communities prepare for floods, wildfires and other extreme events that are getting more common as the climate changes.
The program had also helped some small towns and tribal communities by providing technical aid in applying for highly sought after federal funds. "We wanted them to have a fair shot at the funding that was out there," Criswell explains. Now, that assistance is gone.
Some equity efforts put into place at FEMA appear to still be intact. Last year, the agency made it easier for individuals and families to apply for money after disasters, by combining redundant forms and paying disaster survivors up to $750 to cover immediate needs such as food, water, medication and diapers. That assistance was expected to be particularly helpful for survivors who do not have a lot of money saved and who don't have homeowner's or renter's insurance.
Such efforts are a step in the right direction, says Manann Donoghoe, who studies disaster recovery at the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan policy research organization in Washington, D.C. "Some individuals are more vulnerable than others, and we need a system that understands and reacts to that," he explains.
The importance of boots on the ground
Between the cancellation of FEMA Corps, firing of probationary employees and a raft of retirements and resignations across the agency, FEMA is grappling with a large number of staff vacancies going into the summer months, when hurricanes, wildfires, floods and other extreme weather get more common in the U.S.
That may mean fewer federally trained disaster responders on the ground than in past years and potentially less equitable aid distribution.
The profound importance of boots on the ground was made clear in 2020. After wildfires in Oregon destroyed thousands of homes, many of them in low-income rural parts of the state, FEMA denied about 70% of assistance applications, an NPR investigation found.
"I was talking to our team on the ground," remembers Criswell, who took over as FEMA's leader shortly after the wildfires. "They were telling me how there [were] a large number of people that were denied assistance. But they could see there was enormous need."
Criswell says FEMA workers called back everybody whose application had been denied and found that many people were actually eligible for money but had filled out forms incorrectly or incompletely. FEMA workers on the ground in Oregon "were actually able to get a good percentage of them assistance just by taking the time to go over them with it," Criswell says.
It was an example of how important on-the-ground federal workers can be for victims of disasters, especially those who may not be proficient with a computer or able to fill out complex forms without help, says Criswell.
Willis-Johnson says expanding in-person assistance and knocking on doors after disasters was a crucial step in the right direction for an agency that has long failed to serve Black disaster survivors and other marginalized groups. "FEMA was going into the underserved neighborhoods to make people aware of their options, and making them aware of the need to fill out post-disaster recovery assistance forms," Willis-Johnson says.
Now, she is worried that vulnerable people will struggle to get basic help after disasters. "Why would we ever want people to suffer?" she says. "You shouldn't want that. It's not OK."
Supreme Court seems inclined to rule against Trump
By Nina Totenberg | NPR
Published April 2, 2026 8:42 AM
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Kent Nishimura
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AFP via Getty Images
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Topline:
A majority of the Supreme Court justices seemed skeptical of the Trump administration's argument on birthright citizenship yesterday and appeared ready to rule in favor of upholding automatic citizenship for babies born on U.S. soil.
Keep reading... for details on the questions posed to lawyers, including conservative justices tough questions for President Donald Trump's solicitor general, D. John Sauer.
A majority of the Supreme Court justices seemed skeptical of the Trump administration's argument on birthright citizenship Wednesday and appeared ready to rule in favor of upholding automatic citizenship for babies born on U.S. soil.
That included multiple conservative justices, who had tough questions for Trump's solicitor general, D. John Sauer. Sauer argued the government's case against birthright citizenship, the practice enshrined in the 14th Amendment in the Constitution, which became law in 1868.
It states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
Sauer, however, asserted that contrary to the law as understood for 160 years, the 14th Amendment does not confer automatic citizenship on every baby born in the U.S. He told the court that the true meaning of the amendment was to grant citizenship to former slaves and their children, no more. And, therefore, President Trump was well within his rights when he signed an executive order barring citizenship for children born in this country to parents who are illegally here, or who are here legally, but on long-term visas.
But Chief Justice John Roberts was doubtful about that executive order.
"The examples you give to support that strike me as very quirky," Roberts told Sauer. "And then you expand it to a whole class of illegal aliens," he continued. "I'm not quite sure how you can get to that big group from such tiny and, sort of, idiosyncratic examples."
"We're in a new world now," Sauer contended. "A billion people are one plane ride away from having a child who's a U.S. citizen."
"It's a new world," Roberts replied, but "it's the same Constitution."
Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that the Trump executive order focuses on parents, but the 14th Amendment focuses on birthright for the child. He asked: how would you know who the father is, or the mother? What if they're unmarried? Whose house do they live in?
Justice Amy Coney Barrett questioned the practicality of the Trump proposal.
"How would it work?" she asked. "How would you adjudicate these cases? You're not going to know at the time of birth whether they have the intent to stay or not, including U.S. citizens by the way."
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wondered, "So [are] we bringing pregnant women in for depositions? What are we doing to figure this out?"
The justices also grilled Sauer about the landmark 1898 case of Wong Kim Ark, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Wong had birthright citizenship, because he was born in the United States. Sauer, however, maintained that Wong was only given birthright citizenship because his parents were legally domiciled in the United States.
"I think even your brief concedes that the position you're taking now is a revisionist one with respect to a substantial part of our history," Justice Elena Kagan said. "That's, in part, because of Wong Kim Ark and the way people have read that case ever since then."
Challenging the Trump birthright plan, the American Civil Liberties Union's Cecillia Wang told the Supreme Court that the 14th Amendment was enacted after the Civil War in order to have a universal rule of citizenship, subject to a closed set of exceptions, and that the birthright applies to all children born on U.S. soil.
"We can't take the current administration's policy considerations into account to try to re-engineer and radically re-interpret the original meaning of the 14th Amendment," Wang argued.
However, in reference to current perceived immigration problems versus those that existed at the time the 14th Amendment was enacted, Kagan posited: "What do we do if we think we have a new problem that didn't exist at the time of the 14th Amendment?"
Justice Brett Kavanaugh followed up, asking whether the provisions of the 14th Amendment are frozen in place.
Yes, replied Wang, because the framers of it were intent on putting the citizenship question out of the reach of Congress.
The decision, expected by this summer, will almost certainly result in a historic ruling, and Trump himself made his mark at the court Wednesday morning.
He became the first sitting president known to attend oral arguments, signaling the importance of this issue to him personally.
After leaving the courtroom before the arguments were over, he wrote on Truth Social, "We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow 'Birthright' Citizenship!" In fact, roughly three dozen countries offer it.
Trump arrived about 10 minutes before the arguments began, listened to Sauer field the justices' questions for a little over an hour and then left a few minutes after Wang began to make her case.
Outside the court, dozens of people rallied in support of birthright citizenship
Volunteers with the ACLU, joined by immigrant rights organizations like CASA and the League of United Latin American Citizens, handed out fliers that read "protect birthright citizenship" and "14th Amendment."
"We're all out here to protect the fundamental right of birthright citizenship. It's written in the 14th Amendment," said Anu Joshi, a staff member of the ACLU. "It's what makes us America."
Among the crowd were several people who were citizens by birthright themselves.
"I am a birthright citizen so this hits really, really close to home because without birthright citizenship I wouldn't even have my citizenship in the United States," said Stephanie Sanchez, a first-generation Mexican-American who came to the rally. "Here I am representing my community and fighting back."
After the arguments, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero told the crowd he felt confident in the way the arguments played out inside.
"We are fighting for the heart and soul of this country. The fight to protect birthright citizenship is about our neighbors, our families, our kids. It's not about the past, it's about the future," he said. "We will only accept what is just and what is right."
Largely absent from the crowd were proponents of the president's position.
Domenico Montanaro, Ximena Bustillo and Anusha Mathur contributed to this story. Copyright 2026 NPR
O.C. Japan Fest, corgi beach day, the grunions are back, a new play festival, a talk with Sen. Cory Booker and more of the best things to do this weekend.
Highlights:
Experience sakura season without leaving the area at the O.C. Japan Fair, featuring 250 vendors, craftspeople, food booths, art activities and more, all celebrating Japanese culture.
Check out readings of five new plays – all for free! – at the Play L.A. New Works Festival, put on by Stage Raw and the Greenway Arts Alliance along with a number of L.A. indie theater powerhouses.
Spend Friday night with New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, whose new book, Stand, tells stories from his political life that aim to share “actionable insights” to help preserve democracy in these challenging times.
I hope you had luck in securing the first round of LA28 Olympics tickets — and that you’re not still waiting for page refreshes this morning! We’ve got all the info on how to get your tickets and why you shouldn’t fret if it doesn’t work out on this first try.
LAist’s Mariana Dale went to Hollywood High School this week to see how students and teachers felt about Mitski bringing a concert to the historic space. Seems like no one was missing class since perfect attendance meant a shot at tickets.
No matter your music taste, there’s a show for you this weekend. It may not be the height of summer yet, but things will be heating up at the Hollywood Bowl as Ben Platt and Rachel Zegler reunite for their concert performance of Broadway hit The Last Five Years. Plus, Licorice Pizza recommends Mercury Prize-winning London rapper Dave at the Palladium, St. Paul & the Broken Bones are at the Belasco, Calum Scott plays the Wiltern, and there’s a really cool First Fridays night at the Natural History Museum with dub legend Adrian Sherwood. Saturday has pop trio LANY at the Intuit Dome, Lamb of God slaughtering the YouTube Theater, SoundCloud rapper Rich Amiri at the Fonda, post-hardcore band Hail the Sun at the Wiltern, pop sensation Nessa Barrett at the Masonic Lodge, and another rising pop star, Alexander Stewart, at Chinatown’s cool new venue, Pacific Electric.
Experience sakura season without leaving the area at the O.C. Japan Fair, featuring 250 vendors, craftspeople, food booths, art activities and more, all celebrating Japanese culture. From sake tastings to sushi-making workshops to musical performances and kimono try-ons, the annual event is one of the largest Japanese cultural fairs in California.
Play L.A. New Works Festival
April 3-4 Greenway Court Theatre 544 North Fairfax Ave., Mid-City COST: FREE, MORE INFO
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PLAY LA Festival
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Check out readings of five new plays — all for free! — at the Play L.A. New Works Festival, put on by Stage Raw and the Greenway Arts Alliance, along with a number of L.A. indie theater powerhouses. This year’s plays are Stonewall’s Bouncer by Louisa Hill, produced by The Victory Theatre; At Olduvai Gorge by India Kotis, produced by The Odyssey Theatre Company; Ghost Play by Mathew Scott Montgomery, produced by InHouse Theatre; The Incident by Rachel Borders, produced by The Road Theatre Ensemble; and Three Dates by Erica Wachs, produced by IAMA Theatre Company. Go see one, or go see them all!
SoCal Corgi Beach Day
Saturday, April 4, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 21351 California 1, Huntington Beach COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Head to Huntington Beach for the cutest event of the year, the annual SoCal Corgi Beach Day. This year’s theme is "Tiki Beach Pawty," because of course it is. Honor Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite pets and spend the day at the beach with these short, stout, snuggly friends while they frolic and compete in events like — I am not making this up – Corgi Limbo.
Plaza Mexico Celebrates Easter
Sunday, April 5, 12:00 p.m. to 4 p.m. 3100 E. Imperial Highway, Lynwood COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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You have your pick of Easter Bunny photo ops and egg hunts around town, and Plaza Mexico would be a great one with the family. Meet and take a picture with the Easter bunny, enjoy kids' arts & crafts, family activities, vendors and sweet treats.
Writers Bloc: Cory Booker
Friday, April 3, 7:30 p.m. John Adams Middle School (JAMS) Performing Arts Center 2425 16th St., Santa Monica COST: $33; MORE INFO
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 05: Senator Cory Booker attends PBS' "Black & Jewish America: An Interwoven History" Screening With Henry Louis Gates, Jr. And Conversation With Sen. Cory Booker at 92NY on February 05, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
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Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
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Spend Friday night with New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, whose new book, Stand, tells stories from his political life that aim to share "actionable insights" to help preserve democracy in these challenging times. The conversation with Writers Bloc will be hosted by Sean Bailey, the former head of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production for 14 years and the current CEO of the new multi-platform production company B5 Studios. The event is sold out, but there is a waitlist available.
Behind the Canvas — An Exclusive Art Talk with the Jurors of A Woman's Place: Framing the Future
Saturday, April 4, 11 a.m. Ebell of Los Angeles 741 S. Lucerne Blvd., Mid-Wilshire COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Have coffee and doughnuts with the curators of the Ebell’s Women’s History Month exhibit, "A Woman’s Place: Framing the Future." You can catch the show before it closes and see work from women artists exploring new interpretations of womanhood, feminism and art.
Grunion Run
Saturday, April 4, starting at 10:30 p.m. Venice Breakwater Ocean Front Walk, Venice COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Thousands of grunions on the shore.
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I have lived in Venice for more than 20 years and never actually seen a grunion, despite efforts, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun to see all your neighbors scouring the beach by moonlight on a Saturday night. The Venice Oceanarium folks always organize an educational tent with lessons on how these unique fish show up on our shores to reproduce, and maybe you’ll luck out and time it right this year.
She’s Auspicious
Saturday, April 4, 7 p.m. Broad Stage 1310 11th St., Santa Monica COST: FROM $40; MORE INFO
L.A. native Mythili Prakash takes the Tamil dance form Bharatanatyam to new heights as a choreographer and performer. Her short dance film Mollika, commissioned by Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage in London, was nominated for a 2025 National Dance Award for Best Short Dance Film. She’s Auspicious, her latest production, "blurs the line between goddess and woman, exploring the dichotomy between celebration of the goddess versus the treatment of women in society." It was nominated for an Olivier Award in the category Best New Dance Performance in the U.K., and lucky for us, is on for one performance only at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.
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Julia Barajas
explores how college students achieve their goals, whether they’re fresh out of high school, pursuing graduate work or looking to join the labor force through alternative pathways.
Published April 2, 2026 5:00 AM
Cal State Long Beach is one of the 23 CSU campuses where Teamsters-represented workers held a strike last month.
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Topline:
The California Public Employment Relations Board (has issued a formal complaint against California State University trustees over the system’s alleged refusal to give raises to trades workers. The complaint follows a statewide strike earlier this year, in which workers at every campus walked off the job.
Why it matters: Teamsters Local 2010 represents 1,100 plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs, locksmiths and other building maintenance staff who work across the CSU system. A formal complaint from the Public Employment Relations Board means the two parties must resolve the dispute in a formal hearing process.
The backstory: According to Teamsters Local 2010, union members won wage increases in 2024 “after nearly three decades of stagnation.” That year, the union was on the verge of striking alongside the system's faculty, but it reached a last-minute deal with the CSU. The union has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the system, arguing that the CSU refused to honor contractually obligated raises and step increases for its members.
What the CSU says: The CSU maintains that conditions described in its collective bargaining agreement with the union — which “tied certain salary increases to the receipt of new, unallocated, ongoing state budget funding” — were not met.
What’s next: In an emailed statement, spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith said the CSU welcomes “the opportunity to present the facts of this case before an administrative law judge.” After the formal hearing, the state board will propose a resolution to the dispute.
Wind moves palm trees on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Stanton.
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Mel Melcon
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Los Angeles Times
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QUICK FACTS
Today’s weather: Mostly cloudy then sunny
Beaches: mid to upper 60s
Mountains: mid 60s to around 70 degrees
Inland: 64 to 71 degrees
Warnings and advisories: Wind advisory
What to expect: A mostly sunny afternoon with temperatures sticking to the low to mid 70s for most of Southern California. Breezy conditions will pick up in the afternoon for some valleys and mountain communities.
Read on ... for more details.
QUICK FACTS
Today’s weather: Mostly cloudy then sunny
Beaches: mid to upper 60s
Mountains: mid 60s to around 70 degrees
Inland: 64 to 71 degrees
Warnings and advisories: Wind advisory
The cool weather continues for one more day in Southern California. Later this evening, strong winds will kick in for some mountains and highway corridors ahead of a Santa Ana wind event slated for Friday.
Temperatures at the beaches are going to stick around the mid to upper 60s, and around 70 degrees more inland.
Coachella Valley, San Bernardino and Riverside County mountains will continue to see gusty winds until tonight.
At noon, the Antelope Valley will be under a wind advisory, with winds expected to reach 20 to 30 mph, and some gusts up to 50 mph. Wind advisories will also kick in for the 5 Freeway corridor, Ventura County mountains and the Santa Susana mountains, where gusts could reach 45 mph.
