Bass Dodges Congress As Fraud Alarms Blare

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has told a House subcommittee she won’t show up to answer questions about more than $1 billion in federal homelessness money that flowed through a city agency now under federal fraud investigation.

Story Snapshot

A House subcommittee summoned Bass to testify September 15 about alleged waste, fraud, and abuse in Los Angeles homelessness funding.
Bass’s attorney said she is “not available on that date” and will not appear.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) already cut off funding to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority after finding serious mismanagement.
Bass’s allies call the investigation partisan, while the housing authority denies any fraud.

Congress Demands Answers on Billion-Dollar Program

The House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency sent Bass a formal letter on September 3, 2026. Chairman Tim Burchett asked her to testify and hand over documents tied to contracting and grant decisions at the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, known as LAHSA. The letter accuses the agency of enabling “self-enrichment” among people handling federal homelessness dollars.

Lawmakers say Los Angeles has received over $1 billion in federal homelessness funding since 2021 through the agency. The subcommittee wants to know what city officials knew about how that money was spent and what checks were in place to stop misuse.

Mayor’s Office Says She Won’t Attend

Bass’s legal counsel, David Michaelson, told Burchett in a letter that the mayor could not make the September 15 hearing. His office said simply that “unfortunately, the mayor is not available on that date”. The mayor’s office says the city is still cooperating with the committee’s request for records, even though Bass herself won’t testify in person.

The scheduling explanation has not stopped criticism from lawmakers who see the refusal as avoidance. No new hearing date has been publicly announced, leaving the House without direct testimony from the city’s top elected official on how the money was managed.

Federal Money Already Cut, Fraud Probe Underway

This isn’t just a congressional inquiry. HUD suspended all federal funding to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority in June after its inspector general opened a fraud investigation. HUD said the agency’s failures were “so severe and pervasive” that continued funding posed a risk to taxpayers and the public. That freeze has already cost the city money meant to house homeless residents.

The housing authority denies wrongdoing. It says it welcomes audits and has found no evidence of fraud or corruption. Bass’s allies and other Democrats call the House investigation partisan, arguing it’s really an effort to justify cutting homelessness funding rather than a genuine search for accountability.

🚨 NEW CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION

A House Oversight subcommittee has opened an investigation into the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s handling of federal homelessness funding.

Chairman Tim Burchett is demanding records from Mayor Karen Bass by September 14 and…

— FreedomFire1776 (@FreedomFire1776) September 3, 2026

Bass herself has previously said her administration has “zero tolerance for corruption” and is working with federal prosecutors to hold anyone committing fraud accountable. Whether that statement squares with her decision to skip a hearing built around exactly those fraud allegations is now the central question hanging over her office.

For voters on both sides of the aisle already skeptical that government spends their money responsibly, this case lands as another example of officials dodging scrutiny rather than facing it directly. A mayor declining to answer Congress about a billion taxpayer dollars, even while claiming full cooperation on paper, reinforces the belief that accountability in Washington and city hall alike remains optional for those in charge.