The Sacramento Bee
(TNS)
Gov. Gavin Newsom urged the federal government to pour more resources into helping fight ever-increasing numbers of wildfires while the Golden State awaits White House approval for $39 billion to cover the costs of January’s devastating infernos in Los Angeles.
Speaking from a hangar at McClellan Air Force Base, Newsom said during a Thursday press conference that California had made “record investments” in its wildfire response since he took office by stepping up its vegetation and forest management practices. He touted that Cal Fire had acquired a second C-130 Hercules military air tanker, one of seven the agency is expected to eventually receive from the federal government.
“The challenges have been laid out. You heard the comments about the notion of seasonality now being disabused,” he told reporters while sporting a black Cal Fire branded bomber jacket.
“The fact (is) we had one of the worst fires in California history in the middle of the winter, in January ... That it was one of the most devastating and deadly wildfires in our state’s history just a few months ago only underscores the urgency of this moment and the urgency of continuing to make additional progress.”
He also decried the federal government for cutting the U.S. Forest Service budget by 10% despite controlling 57% of California’s forestland.
“You can’t even make that up. That’s not risk taking,” he said. “That’s recklessness, and so we’ll do our part, but we need stronger partners.”
Newsom, who led the resistance during Trump’s first term, initially took a circumspect approach to the federal government when the president recaptured the White House last November. Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson dangled the prospect of conditioning federal disaster relief money to California while the Los Angeles area suffered a series of devastating wildfires in January.
The governor reiterated that he wanted to approach the president with “an open hand, not closed fist,” even as Congress has so far not approved the $39 billion California is seeking in disaster relief money. At the same time, Newsom said Trump has not followed through on his threats to require the Golden State to overhaul its forest management practices or institute harsher immigration policies in order to get the funds.
“There’s been no public statements that I’m aware of, certainly no private missives that have come my way,” Newsom said. He also praised Republican Rep. Ken Calvert for working to “lift the dense fog of partisanship” that initially surrounded the aid negotiations.
The governor, believed to be a 2028 presidential contender, has increasingly taken antagonizing stances in recent weeks. Newsom filed lawsuits earlier this month to pause the shuttering of AmeriCorps and to stop a series of tariffs that he said would devastate the Golden State’s economy, calling them “the poster child of stupidity.”
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