WATCH: Padilla Blasts Trump Administration for Leaving Disaster Survivors Behind

WATCH: Padilla: "Disasters do not distinguish between red states and blue states - and when it comes to disaster aid, neither should Congress"

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) testified at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing to raise concerns over President Trump's recent supplemental funding request that did not include disaster aid funding for communities to rebuild and recover following catastrophic natural disasters across the country.

In his remarks, Padilla recognized the lasting impact of last year's Eaton and Palisades fires, highlighting the damage caused by the fires and the need for long-term funding to recover and rebuild. He emphasized that during the fires, neighboring states provided firefighting support, yet the Trump Administration has blocked further funding for disaster aid.

"Walking around the Palisades and the Altadena communities during the fires and after the fires, you couldn't help but be moved by the scale of the devastation," said Senator Padilla. "Congress has historically come together on a bipartisan basis to provide aid and long-term recovery funding to help communities recover and rebuild… But instead of following that historical practice, this Administration has left California waiting for more than a year and a half."

Padilla further slammed the Trump Administration's politicization of and efforts to limit disaster aid funding and instead prioritize Trump's unauthorized war in Iran that has increased costs for American families.

"Californians in Altadena and the Palisades have now waited more than 18 months. Yet, long-term recovery funding is still absent from even the Administration's request," continued Senator Padilla. "Instead, it asks taxpayers to spend hundreds of billions of dollars more on a war that Congress has never authorized. A war that's raising gas prices, worsening supply chains, and making our country less safe. And for which 17 servicemembers have already paid the ultimate sacrifice, with many more seriously injured."

Padilla urged the Senate Appropriations Committee to quickly address the need for bipartisan disaster relief without strings attached so that communities can recover and rebuild. He expressed concern over recent wildfires and encouraged his colleagues increase funding for resources to respond to the growing threats of natural disasters across the country.

"I want to be crystal clear: no disaster-impacted community, regardless of where it is located, should ever be held hostage or treated as a bargaining chip for other political priorities," Senator Padilla continued. "Disasters do not distinguish between red states and blue states. And when it comes to disaster aid, neither should Congress."

Senator Padilla has fought relentlessly to secure and protect access to desperately needed disaster relief aid for families in California.

• Yesterday, Padilla, along with Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and John Curtis (R-Utah) urged Congressional leaders to include long-term disaster recovery funding in any supplemental appropriations package moving forward.
• In January, on the one-year anniversary of the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires, Padilla and Schiff and the Chairs of the Republican and Democratic Congressional Delegations - Representatives Ken Calvert (R-Calif.-41) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18) - led the entire bipartisan California Congressional delegation in urging Trump to provide overdue federal disaster relief funding and resources to help Los Angeles County communities rebuild and recover.
• In the immediate aftermath of the Los Angeles fires, Padilla and Schiff led 47 bipartisan members of the California Congressional delegation in successfully urging President Biden to grant Governor Newsom's request for a major disaster declaration to expedite timely relief to Los Angeles County residents impacted by these disasters.

Video of Padilla's testimony is available here.

Transcript of Padilla's remarks is available below:

Thank you, Madam Chair, Vice Chair Murray, members of the committee. Appreciate the opportunity to testify on behalf of the people of California, and especially the survivors of last year's devastating fires in Los Angeles County. And I want to acknowledge that some of them are here in the audience today, advocating for relief, and I'm proud to work alongside them.

As many of you recall, 18 months ago, 60,000 acres across Southern California burned. That's roughly three and a half times the size of Manhattan. Over 16,000 homes, businesses, schools, and other structures were destroyed. And most devastatingly, 31 Californians lost their lives. To respond, more than 7,500 firefighters worked literally round the clock for more than three weeks to extinguish the fires. And those firefighters weren't just from California. Many came from our neighboring states of Oregon, Washington, Arizona, some as far away as Utah, Texas, and Montana. Colleagues, because as Americans, that's what we do. We help each other. We don't condition our response based on who a community voted for in the last election. When Americans need help, we help.

Now, walking around the Palisades and the Altadena communities during the fires and after the fires, you couldn't help but be moved by the scale of the devastation. The images of nothing standing but a chimney amongst a pile of ash. Cars literally melted into the streets where the drivers where they had been parked. In the wake of disasters like this, Congress has historically come together on a bipartisan basis to provide aid and long-term recovery funding to help communities recover and rebuild, regardless of whether the disaster was in a state represented by Republicans or Democrats. But instead of following that historical practice, this Administration has left California waiting for more than a year and a half, while asking Congress to fund hundreds of billion dollars for other purposes.

I want to be crystal clear: no disaster-impacted community, regardless of where it is located, should ever be held hostage or treated as a bargaining chip for other political priorities. Californians in Altadena and the Palisades have now waited more than 18 months. Yet, long-term recovery funding is still absent from even the Administration's request. Instead, it asks taxpayers to spend hundreds of billions of dollars more on a war that Congress has never authorized. A war that's raising gas prices, worsening supply chains, and making our country less safe. And for which 17 servicemembers have already paid the ultimate sacrifice, with many more seriously injured. Now we know this committee can address disaster relief without tying it to a laundry list of unrelated priorities because it's done so many times before. Including as recently as December 2024, when the committee, on a bipartisan basis, passed more than 100 billion dollars of relief. There's no reason we can't do it again.

Congress, we must, excuse me Colleagues, we must reject the premise that it is okay to keep survivors waiting for help, because the president, any president, decides they need something else from Congress to get it. To that end, I do want to thank my colleagues, Senators Tillis, Schiff, and Curtis, for joining me in sending a bipartisan letter to the committee just yesterday, supporting long-term disaster recovery funding, Madam Chair, I'd like to enter this letter into the record at this time.

And I'll be wrapping up soon here. I also want to reiterate what I said earlier. We know the next disaster is coming. Anyone who stepped outside of Washington this last weekend, or across at least a dozen states, saw and breathed the very impacts of wildfires. And it may be Canada now, but it's going to be one of our states next. As of last week, the federal government has already spent over 3.3 billion dollars in wildfire suppression this fiscal year. Even though the peak of fire season is August and September, that's still ahead of us. That should concern the committee.

We cannot allow wildfire suppression funding to run out before the end of the fiscal year. So in addition to the long-term disaster recovery funding, I urge the committee to examine the need for emergency suppression funds as well. And I would note that the Fire Fix, which has provided a steady resource for fighting wildfires, will expire in Fiscal Year 2027. Congress needs to extend and increase that funding to ensure firefighters have all the resources they need to respond to the ever-growing threat of wildfires.

I'll close by reiterating what I said at the outset: disasters do not distinguish between red states and blue states. And when it comes to disaster aid, neither should Congress. So, thank you again for holding this hearing and allowing me to be a voice for my constituents and for disaster survivors across the country. I look forward to working with this committee to ensure that everyone has the resources and support that they need to recover and rebuild, regardless of which state they call home. Thank you very much.

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