LA leaders call Trump order on fire response 'political posturing'

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and county Supervisor Kathryn Barger say President Donald Trump’s executive order on rebuilding in the wake of the Palisades and Eaton fires "political posturing."

Trump also does not have authority to nullify state and local building regulations without an act of congress, according to Justin Levitt, a professor of constitutional law at Loyola Marymount University.

On Wednesday, the three joined AirTalk host Larry Mantle to discuss Trump’s executive order that was signed last Friday. The order calls for federal regulators to step in and preempt state and local construction permitting processes after disasters like the January fires, instead allowing builders to self-certify their compliance with standards. The executive order also requires a federal audit of California’s use of FEMA grant funds.

“ We always see this from the president,” Bass said, “which is posturing and using something in a political manner.”

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Bass said she had complimented the Trump administration at the beginning of the disaster response for its “massive” deployment of Army Corps of Engineers, who helped in the debris removal process.

Both Bass and Barger, whose district includes Altadena, said local permitting processes already allow for self-certification. And both encouraged the president to help survivors by providing FEMA money that has not yet been reimbursed. Barger said that's to the tune of $34 billion.

“FEMA has put $170 million into Victims’ pockets via Individual Assistance,” a Trump spokesperson told LAist in an emailed response to Barger’s claim. “While FEMA is still processing California’s applications for cost-share State projects like infrastructure, essentially all FEMA money to individual victims and households has already been paid out.”

Instead of trying to sidestep local government policy, Bass said, Trump could lean on his connections with the insurance and banking industries to have them help fire survivors.

“He should say, ‘You guys need to put together a loan fund for people in the Palisades and Altadena and in Malibu. You guys need to extend forbearance,’” Bass said. “He could do that.”

Is Trump’s plan legal?

Levitt said there's a history of presidential directives preempting local decisions, but that authority was given under existing federal laws. Levitt said he doesn’t see how any of those statutes apply in this case.

“ The big thing the president's focusing on is a purported takeover, declaring that people don't have to listen to state and local regulations when they're getting federal money, and that's just not true,” Levitt said.

He added that Congress could pass a new law that allows the federal government to step in. And he noted that Trump’s executive order did instruct federal agencies to ask Congress for new legislation.

“"Until Congress acts, the president's job here is to disperse the cash that local residents are owed, and that's about it," Levitt said.