Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) requested billions of dollars in federal aid to help Los Angeles rebuild after fires destroyed large swaths of California’s largest city. 

This week, Newsom lobbied for nearly $40 billion worth of funding in a letter to key power players in Washington, D.C., including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), the House Appropriations Committee chairman.

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“Los Angeles is one of the most economically productive places on the globe, but it can only rebound and flourish with support from the federal government as it recovers from this unprecedented disaster,” Newsom wrote. “Make no mistake, Los Angeles will use this money wisely. California will ensure that funds will serve individuals, communities, property owners, and businesses that suffered losses from these devastating fires.”

The bulk of the proposed package, $16.8 billion in funds administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, would go toward repairing miles of destroyed public infrastructure, fire response costs, debris removal, and hazard mitigation money to help prevent another crisis, according to the document sent to congressional leaders. 

The financial aid request comes as the total economic loss from the Los Angeles fires has been estimated to cost more than $250 billion. Newsom approved a $2.5 billion package to help the region recover in late January after over 16,251 structures were destroyed when the fires tore through roughly 37,400 acres. 

“It looks like you got hit by a bomb,” President Donald Trump told Newsom as the two men surveyed the damage last month. 

Newsom’s proposal calls for nearly $10 billion to be allocated toward housing costs and infrastructure, while $5.3 billion administered by the Small Business Administration would be allocated toward handing out low-interest loans to businesses, residents, and nonprofit groups.

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Another $4.3 billion would be set aside for economic development grants spearheaded by the Commerce Department to help businesses and make public works investments. Two billion dollars would go toward low-income housing tax credits. 

Getting the aid package through Congress could run into some speed bumps, as some Republicans, and Trump himself, have in the past floated tying funding to mandating policy changes in California. How the state manages water reserves and brush clearance has come under strict scrutiny from critics who say failed policies fueled the devastating fires. There are even movements to remove Newsom, as well as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, from office for policies they set leading up to the fires that some constituents argue contributed to the crisis.

“I don’t have faith that if we went back and just gave California hundreds of millions of dollars, they were gonna go back to their same old ways of not giving us enough water, having dangerous situations on the ground in terms of forestry — it’s going to happen again,” Richard Grenell, a California resident who is a top Trump ally, said at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington D.C., on Friday.

Trump has also waded into the idea of linking voter ID requirements to a federal aid package. 

“In California, we want them to have voter ID so the people have a voice, because right now, the people don’t have a voice because you don’t know who’s voting, and it’s very corrupt,” he said. “If they released the water when I told them to, because I told them to do it seven years ago, if they would’ve done it, you wouldn’t have had the problem.”

Still, the president has signaled he is willing to negotiate a deal with California. 

“There can be no golden age without the Golden State,” Trump told Newsom during a visit to California shortly after he assumed office. 

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And Newsom has been assiduous in conducting outreach to the White House on the matter of aid even as he leads his state in fighting Trump’s agenda on policy issues such as illegal immigration. 

“We are eternally grateful,” Newsom wrote in his letter about Trump’s approach thus far to rebuilding Los Angeles. “And we are confident that if we work together, Los Angeles will continue to serve as a beacon to the world and securely place the city on solid ground in the coming years as it hosts the FIFA World Cup and Olympics — and thrive for the century to come.”