California authorities have confirmed that 24 have died as wildfires continue to rage around Los Angeles on Sunday. Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing criticism for approving a budget that slashed $100 million in firefighting and fire prevention funding.

NEW: Joe Rogan and Mel Gibson blast California Governor Gavin Newsom for failing to prepare Los Angeles for the devastating wildfires. "They spent $24 billion last year on the homeless, and what did they spend on preventing these wildfires?" "In 2019, Newsom said he would take... pic.twitter.com/xJaQeDVMIA

California Gov. Gavin Newsom demanded an independent investigation into the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power after fire hydrants went dry during the devastating fires.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom downplayed Donald Trump's nickname for him as the Los Angeles wildfires entered their second week

Newsom said it was a "ridiculous lie" that he cut $100 million, a retort he included on his new website, California Fire Facts. But the website didn’t dissect the $100 million; it focused on the big picture of the budget during his tenure, asserting that the budget had grown for California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Cal Fire.

California still considers looting a crime. Newsom debunked the claim on X, and prosecutors have charged multiple people with looting.

The order targets opportunistic real estate speculators who make unsolicited cash offers well below market value in attempts to exploit victims of the Los Angeles-area fires.

Gavin Newsom ... losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors,” Newsom wrote in a letter to Los Angeles Department of Water ...

Gov. Gavin Newsom invited President-elect Donald Trump to California to survey the destruction of the deadly Los Angeles County wildfires, penning a letter Friday asking Trump to join him in meeting with victims and firefighters.

The minute something goes wrong, then you have excuses and cop-outs and really no direct response,” one resident fumed.

Just over $100 million was cut from California's wildfire and forest resilience fund in the latest budget, though total spending has grown sharply since 2014.

Trump accused the state's authorities of throwing water into the sea instead of directing it towards the deadly wildfires which tore through several densely-populated areas of LA county this month.