Trump grants FEMA more power to combat LA wildfires after threatening to curtail agency -...

President Donald Trump issued an executive order giving the federal government more control over California’s water management after sparring with Democrats, who he said have slow-walked Los Angeles’s recovery efforts. The order gives the Federal Emergency Management Agency and half a dozen agencies authority to override California state laws and federal statutes to provide relief amid the Los Angeles wildfires. In the latest escalation of Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) water wars, Trump threatened to withhold federal disaster aid in an effort to pressure the state to adopt an unrelated voter ID policy. Under a section of the executive order titled “Overriding Disastrous California Policies,” Trump ordered the secretary of defense, the attorney general, the secretary of Homeland Security, the secretary of commerce, the secretary of the interior, and the secretary of agriculture to address the authority they have over the state’s water supply. The council is being formed after FEMA’s response to Hurricane Helene and other recent disasters showed the need to improve “efficacy, priorities, and competence, including evaluating whether FEMA’s bureaucracy in disaster response” hinders its ability to respond successfully. Trump also said FEMA has lost mission focus, diverting limited resources and staff to support missions outside its scope and authority. The president particularly highlighted that FEMA has spent over a billion dollars welcoming illegal immigrants