House DOGE Panel Summons LA Mayor Bass Over $1B Homeless Fund Scandal

Congress is calling Mayor Karen Bass to testify over alleged fraud in $1B+ in federal homeless funding routed through LAHSA. A hearing is set for Sept. 15.

LA Mayor Karen Bass Summoned to DC Over Alleged LAHSA Fraud

The US House of Representatives has summoned Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to testify before Congress over alleged "waste, fraud and abuse" involving more than $1 billion in federal homelessness funding, NY Post Metro reports, citing a letter obtained by The California Post.

The Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, led by Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), called Bass to a public hearing scheduled for Sept. 15 at 11 a.m. in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC. The hearing is titled "Fixing Fraud and Failure in Federally Funded Homelessness Services."

The panel is investigating alleged misuse of federal grants administered through the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), a joint city-county agency that coordinates homeless services and distributes federal dollars to nonprofits across Los Angeles and surrounding areas.

"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 in the letter to Bass.

Documents Due One Day Before Hearing

The subcommittee, which operates under the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is demanding documents from Bass' office covering the period from Jan. 1, 2020, to the present. Requested records include material on LAHSA's internal controls, the use of federal homelessness funds, and communications between the mayor's office, LAHSA, the City Council, and the LA County Board of Supervisors. The deadline for those documents is 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 (HUD) inspector general investigation into LAHSA's handling of federal funds, including alleged "repeated false statements" and failures in financial management, internal controls, and conflict-of-interest safeguards.

In June, HUD suspended further federal funding to LAHSA until officials could demonstrate adequate protections were in place. A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration's cuts in August.

Homelessness Remains a Persistent Crisis

The scrutiny arrives as homelessness continues to strain Los Angeles. California has approximately 182,000 homeless people, including around 73,000 in Los Angeles County and more than 45,000 in the city itself — a 3.4% increase from the prior year, according to HUD data.

Bass and the LA City Council collectively appoint half of LAHSA's governing board, while members of the county Board of Supervisors appoint the remaining members.

Specific Contracts Under Scrutiny

The committee pointed to several examples raising questions about LAHSA's oversight of contractors.

Among them is a $2.1 million contract signed by former LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum with Upward Bound House — the employer of her husband. Kellum had previously told LAist she had recused herself from matters involving her husband's employer, but public records later showed she personally authorized the contract. LAHSA subsequently said the contract had "inadvertently ended up" in front of her.

The panel also cited concerns about 1736 Family Crisis Center, a nonprofit that has received more than $36 million in federal grants since 2008, including at least $25 million through LAHSA since 2021.

The organization's CEO, Carol Adelkoff, received $1.6 million in total compensation over two years while living in Hawaii, according to the letter. The breakdown shows $742,181 in 2024 compensation and $907,923 the year prior, including a $495,000 bonus. The committee compared those figures with the median annual pay of leaders at 16 comparable Los Angeles-area nonprofits, which it said was $159,737.

Bass' office had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

Source: NY Post Metro