Exclusive | House DOGE panel calls on Mayor Bass to DC over alleged $1B homeless funds scandal
The US House is calling on Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to testify over alleged “waste, fraud and abuse” involving more than $1 billion in federal homelessness funding funneled through the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), according to a letter obtained by the California Post.The Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, led by Rep.Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), summoned Bass to a Sept.
15 public hearing titled “Fixing Fraud and Failure in Federally Funded Homelessness Services.” The hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m.in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC. The panel is investigating alleged abuse of federal grants intended to address homelessness — with a particular focus on LAHSA and its distribution of federal money to nonprofits in Los Angeles and the surrounding area. “Because Los Angeles officials have not adequately protected federal taxpayer dollars, it appears that many nonprofits to which those funds have been allocated are not using them for their intended purpose,” Burchett wrote to Bass.The DOGE subcommittee is part of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is the House’s principal oversight committee with broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time”The House panel is demanding documents from Bass’ office covering the period from Jan.
1, 2020, to the present, including records on LAHSA’s internal controls, the use of federal homelessness funds and communications between the mayor’s office, LAHSA, the City Council and LA County Board of Supervisors.The documents are due by Sept.
14 — one day before the hearing. LAHSA has received more than $1 billion in federal funding since 2021, including $220 million in 2024 alone, according to the letter.The panel also cited a Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general investigation into LAHSA’s handling of federal funds, including alleged “repeated false statements” and...