The White House is considering issuing an executive order in the coming days to address what the president views as an unacceptably slow permitting process that is limiting the rebuilding of homes destroyed in last year’s devastating Southern California wildfires.
The administration is drafting an order that would allow builders receiving federal funds to self-certify their compliance with California state and local building permits, circumventing local authorities to speed the building process, a source familiar with the White House deliberations told NBC News.
Fewer than a dozen homes have been rebuilt in the year since the Palisades and Eaton fires ripped through Southern California, killing 31 people and destroying more than 16,000 structures, mostly homes, The Associated Press reported, citing local and state data.
About 900 homes are under construction and could be completed this year, the news agency reported.
The White House’s proposed order would also direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to investigate California’s use of other disaster-related federal funds, according to the source familiar with its contents. Trump has not yet signed off on the final order.
The president, who takes great pride in his own background as a builder, has repeatedly attacked Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a possible 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, over their handling of California’s wildfire response and rebuilding effort.
In a Truth Social post last night, Trump labeled the pair “incompetent,” writing they are “absolutely unable to get people permits to rebuild there homes. All Federal permits have been issued and received, long ago!”
Newsom, in turn, has accused Trump of failing to respond to his request for billions in relief money and said the state and local governments have moved quickly to clear debris, pass legislation and issue permits to rebuild.
“It’s time for the president of the United States to do his job, not turn his back on Americans who happen to live in the great state of California,” the governor said in his final State of the State speech yesterday.