Billion-Dollar Scandal, Mayor Skips the Hot Seat

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has told a House subcommittee she will not appear at a hearing set up to question her about more than $1 billion in federal homelessness money now under fraud investigation.

Quick Take

  • A House subcommittee summoned Bass to testify September 15, 2026, about alleged waste and fraud in Los Angeles homelessness spending.
  • Bass’s attorney says she has a scheduling conflict, but the city says it is cooperating with the records request.
  • The Department of Housing and Urban Development already suspended funding to the city’s homeless services agency over mismanagement findings.
  • The homeless agency denies fraud and calls the probe partisan, while Bass once vowed “zero tolerance” for corruption.

Subcommittee Demands Answers on Billion-Dollar Homeless Program

Representative Tim Burchett, who leads the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, sent Bass a letter on September 3 asking her to testify and hand over records tied to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The letter accuses the agency of corrupt contracting and grant-making practices, along with letting insiders profit from public money meant to house the homeless.

The agency, known as LAHSA, has taken in more than $1 billion in taxpayer funds since 2021 to fight homelessness across Los Angeles. Lawmakers want to know what city officials knew about how that money moved and why oversight failed to catch problems sooner. The hearing was scheduled for September 15 in Washington, D.C.

Mayor’s Office Cites Scheduling Conflict

David Michaelson, the mayor’s attorney at City Hall, wrote Burchett to say Bass would not attend the hearing. Her legal team called the date unworkable, saying “unfortunately, the mayor is not available on that date”. City officials maintain they are still handing over documents connected to the congressional inquiry, even as Bass herself skips the public hearing where lawmakers planned to question her directly.

That gap between cooperating on paperwork and appearing in person is fueling frustration on Capitol Hill. Republicans on the subcommittee argue that written records cannot replace sworn testimony when more than a billion taxpayer dollars are on the line and fraud allegations remain unresolved.

Federal Housing Agency Already Pulled Funding

The controversy did not start with the House letter. In June, the Department of Housing and Urban Development suspended federal funding to LAHSA after its inspector general opened a fraud investigation. Housing Secretary Scott Turner said the agency’s failures were “so severe and pervasive” that continuing to send money would put taxpayer dollars at further risk.

Investigators pointed to weak financial controls, missing safeguards against conflicts of interest, and vacant apartments funded through the program. Those findings gave Congress fresh ammunition to demand testimony from the mayor herself, since Los Angeles City Hall appoints members to LAHSA’s governing board and helps set its budget priorities.

Both Sides Trade Accusations Amid Public Distrust

LAHSA has pushed back hard, saying it welcomes outside audits and has found no proof of fraud or corruption within the agency. Bass’s political allies and other Democrats describe the whole investigation as a partisan attack, arguing Republicans want to use the fraud claims as cover to slash homelessness funding nationwide rather than fix real problems.

Bass herself struck a tougher tone last year, saying, “My administration has zero tolerance for corruption – period,” and pledging cooperation with federal prosecutors to punish anyone who defrauded the city. Whether that promise squares with her decision to skip next week’s hearing is now central to a dispute testing how much accountability elected officials owe the public when billions in tax dollars are involved.

Sources:

abc7.com, oversight.house.gov, nypost.com, finance.yahoo.com, foxbaltimore.com

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