FEMA needs funding extension for fire victims — politics aside

The state of California began informing local charities last week that it was running out of funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the crucial Disaster Case Management (DCM) program.

The federal government needs to find that money — immediately. 

By the end of the month, thousands of people displaced by last year’s Palisades and Eaton fires could lose their last financial lifeline.

Few of them are back in their homes, and many are struggling to stand back up on their feet.

There seems to have been no clear explanation as to why the emergency funding is running dry.

But the overwhelming sense is that it is a casualty of the political fights between the state of California and the White House.

Gov. Gavin Newsom kicked things off by signing $50 million last year to fight the administration in court — $25 million of which was to be spent on immigration cases — even as he was asking President Donald Trump for relief.

Newsom’s initial request was also staggering — a $40 billion wish list to Santa Claus, and included spending with little connection to the fires. The governor defended it as an opening position in a negotiation, but it was absurd.

On top of that, Newsom decided it would be good for his political ambitions to insult the president, not just daily but almost hourly, attacking him on social media while asking for his help.

Newsom didn’t do that during Trump’s first term, when California needed aid for wildfires — and President Trump did not hesitate to help. 

But the governor started eying a presidential run, and wanted to be seen as the foremost Trump troll in the Democratic Party. 

He won — congratulations — but the fire survivors of California lost.

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Newsom tried blaming Trump for the impasse, saying that he had irritated California by sending in the National Guard.

But other Democrats have welcomed the guard to help deter anti-ICE riots and to help local police suppress crime.

LA Mayor Karen Bass swallowed her pride and met with Trump in the White House in April, along with LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger. They appeared to have had a productive discussion on fire relief.

But since then, nothing seems to have happened on funding. The White House and Congress have not explained why.

Wildfires do not distinguish between Republicans and Democrats. They can destroy communities in left-leaning communities in coastal California — and right-leaning communities in Spokane, Washington.

The fact that a governor might be from the other party can never be a reason to deny communities the aid that they so desperately need.

Fire relief is too important to be a casualty of partisan politics. 

FEMA needs funding for the DCM program — now.