Bass is asked to testify before Congress about waste and fraud in L.A.’s response to homelessness

A congressional subcommittee sent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass a letter this week asking her to testify at a Washington hearing focused on fraud and failure in the region’s homelessness system.

U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), chair of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, said in his four-page letter that his panel is concerned about “potential misallocation of federal dollars” by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA.

Bass sits on LAHSA’s 10-member board and appoints half of its members. The other half are selected by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

In his letter, Burchett said homelessness has gotten worse during Bass’ tenure as mayor, particularly in Skid Row.

“Yet, your administration continues to pursue ‘Housing First’ and ‘Harm Reduction’ policies that fail to address the mental health and drug abuse crises perpetuating the cycle of homelessness in Los Angeles,” he wrote. “The result is deteriorating public health, increased lawlessness and a bleak environment for small businesses.”

Bass spokesperson Paige Sterling confirmed that the mayor had received the letter and is preparing a response. She did not say whether Bass will attend the Sept. 15 hearing.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), a ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, denounced the inquiry, calling it “another attempt by Donald Trump and House Republicans to launch a witch hunt against Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles.”

Garcia said the Trump administration has been trying to strip the region of critical homelessness funding, only to be blocked by a federal court.

“Oversight Democrats will fight this partisan effort,” he said in a statement.

LAHSA officials issued their own statement, saying the agency “consistently welcomes audits and external assessments to continually improve its work.”

“None of these reviews have ever found evidence of fraud or corruption,” the agency said.

The inquiry comes nearly three months after the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it was moving to suspend LAHSA from applying for and spending federal funds, saying the agency was plagued by fraud and mismanagement and had been the subject of damaging audits for years.

Because LAHSA was suspended, it also could not submit an application, due Aug. 26, for $240 million in federal funding on behalf of 140 homeless services organizations.

LAHSA filed a lawsuit challenging HUD’s action, calling it a pretext for the Trump administration to impose its own policies on homelessness on the region — emphasizing substance abuse treatment, mental health services and short-term housing instead of permanent housing.

Last month, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter issued a preliminary injunction, calling HUD’s action arbitrary and capricious. He said the suspension of LAHSA would “significantly harm the public interest.”

HUD has filed papers indicating it will appeal.

The congressional inquiry comes as Bass faces a tough reelection fight against Councilmember Nithya Raman, who has been sharply critical of Bass’ stewardship on homelessness. Raman spent three years in charge of the council’s housing and homelessness committee.

LAHSA’s latest homeless count found that homelessness went up in L.A. this year after two years of decreases. Bass, while acknowledging those setbacks, said unsheltered homelessness — the number of people living outside or in their vehicles — had still fallen by 11% since she took office in 2022.

According to LAHSA’s count, an estimated 45,194 homeless people were living in the city of L.A. when the count was conducted at the start of the year.

Burchett, in his letter, said his subcommittee is concerned about reports of “blatant corruption” at LAHSA. He cited reporting from LAist on Va Lecia Adams Kellum, who signed a $2.1-million contract between LAHSA and her husband’s employer, the nonprofit group Upward Bound House, even though she was supposed to have recused herself.

In a document filed in federal court, an attorney for LAHSA said the signature was applied by a staff member who did not realize the contract was related to the nonprofit that employed Adams Kellum’s husband. Adams Kellum had informed the LAHSA commission of her conflict of interest and had instructed her staff to install an “ethical wall” around the contract that would keep her from making decisions on it, the lawyer said.

Burchett’s letter also mentioned reporting by The Times on the 1736 Family Crisis Center, which has received at least $25 million in grants from LAHSA since 2021. Between 2023 and 2024, that nonprofit paid Carol Adelkoff, its chief executive, $1.6 million in total compensation, including two large payouts for unused vacation, while she lived in Hawaii.

Adelkoff said she had accrued the vacation time over 40 years.

Burchett asked Bass to turn over an enormous trove of documents covering nearly seven years of correspondence between her office and LAHSA about federal homelessness funding. He requested nearly seven years of communications regarding the management of LAHSA sent between the mayor’s office and the City Council and the mayor’s office and the county supervisors.

The deadline is Sept. 14.