Republicans called for the session to be shut down “immediately" and accused Newsom of cutting wildfire prevention funding by 80% over the last four years.

The US president-elect has criticised a top California Democrat for challenges fighting the blazes in Los Angeles.

The criticism, fanned by Trump and his allies across social media, has triggered a political clash over the two massive wildfires menacing Los Angeles from the east and west. At least five people have died in what has developed into one of the biggest natural disasters in California's history.

The state of California announced a one-year moratorium on the cancellation or non-renewal of homeowners insurance policies in zip codes affected by the Los Angeles-area wildfires.

In 2019, the number of homeowners’ policies in California that were not renewed jumped by more than thirty per cent. In 2023, two giant insurers, State Farm and Allstate, announced that they would stop writing new policies for various forms of property insurance in California.

The Los Angeles wildfires could threaten California’s already unstable insurance market, which carriers have been fleeing as disasters multiply.

As greater Los Angeles burns, President-elect Donald Trump has unleashed a blistering volley against Gov. Gavin Newsom and stepped up threats to withhold federal aid to California, which some experts say could be enduring its most costly disaster ever.

President-elect Donald Trump took to Truth Social to criticize California Governor Gavin Newsom over the state's water policies amid ongoing fires blazing through Los Angeles, urging him to "immediately go to Northern California and open up the water main.