Burchett Opens Hearing on Fraud and Failure in Federally Funded Homelessness Services

WASHINGTON-Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency Chairman Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) delivered opening remarks at today's hearing on "Fixing Fraud and Failure in Federally Funded Homelessness Services." In his statement, Subcommittee Chairman Burchett highlighted that the federal government spends roughly $8 billion annually to prevent homelessness, and states and localities often spend more, but the problem only seems to be getting worse. He emphasized the City of Los Angeles's role in in furthering the homelessness problem and how Mayor Karen Bass's failing policies have come at the expense of American taxpayers. While Mayor Bass refuses to take accountability for her actions, the DOGE Subcommittee will continue to seek answers and hold her accountable.

Below are Subcommittee Chairman Burchett's remarks as prepared for delivery:

Good afternoon.

The plight of our Nation's homeless tugs at our heartstrings. It is painful to see people living on streets or in shelters. Those caught in the cycle of homelessness are often drug-addicted, mentally ill, or both. They need help.

But the homeless services provided today in many of our largest cities are not working. In fact, they are making the problem worse.

There are 745,000 homeless Americans, according to a recent federal report. Two-thirds live in emergency shelters, and the other quarter million live on the streets. The situation is only getting worse. Homelessness is up 27 percent since 2013, and street homelessness is up 36 percent. Why?

It's not due to a lack of funding. The federal government spends about $8 billion annually to prevent homelessness, and states and localities spend even more.

Yet homeless encampments keep spreading, especially in cities like Los Angeles and Seattle, where left-wing political leaders are digging in on failed policies. These jurisdictions enable crime and chaos, allowing public housing units to become drug dens and even subsidizing the so-called "safe" injection of dangerous narcotics by addicts.

Los Angeles is the epicenter of American homelessness. It has the Nation's largest homeless population, and it spends the most to combat the problem. Yet, the number of homeless in LA has recently risen to 50,000. Another 75,000 homeless live in the surrounding L.A. County.

LA's Skid Row is a sad testament to the abject failure of the city's approach to homelessness. Under Mayor Karen Bass, law and order in the neighborhood has collapsed. Addicts inject needles in open drug markets controlled by gangs. The remaining businesses, typically small minority-owned establishments, struggle to survive in streets where lawlessness reigns.

So, who benefits from the billions spent combating homelessness in LA? Look no further than the network of local nonprofits raking in federal, state, and local tax dollars to provide homeless services.

Most of these entities got grants or contracts from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), a public authority jointly controlled by the City and County of Los Angeles. LAHSA is the main LA-area conduit for public funds for homelessness services.

And LAHSA is rife with corruption and financial mismanagement.

This outfit is housed in a luxury high-rise in downtown LA with a private helipad and a Mercedes-Maybach car service for tenants.

Mayor Bass controls many appointments to LAHSA's governing board. She appointed herself to the board back in 2023 but has not shown up for most board meetings.

Despite her poor attendance record, her fingerprints are all over LAHSA. The Authority gave a $40,000 per month contract to a former Bass campaign advisor who it then hired as its CEO. Once in charge, that advisor gave a $2 million LAHSA contract to her husband's employer, an LA-based nonprofit.

LAHSA also provided $25 million over 5 years to a nonprofit whose CEO received $1.6 million in compensation over a recent 2-year period while living in Hawaii. LAHSA recently doled out funds to an LA-area nonprofit whose CEO had just been indicted for fraud by the Justice Department.

This is the tip of the iceberg. A court-ordered, independent assessment of LAHSA's finances found alarming financial-control weaknesses that leave the door open to rampant fraud.

Yet the chair of LAHSA's audit committee, an advocate of greater scrutiny of LAHSA spending, was recently removed from his post by Mayor Bass's hand-picked LAHSA board chair, Stephanie Graves, another former campaign advisor.

Finally, just last week­, after I invited her to appear at this hearing, Mayor Bass suddenly removed herself from the LAHSA board.

She also declined to appear at this hearing. She said this hearing and document request was a waste of time and money.

Mayor Bass seems intent on evading accountability. But she knows we will not let her off the hook. Her office has agreed to provide dates when she is willing to appear before our Subcommittee this year because she knows I will work with Chairman Comer to use every tool at our disposal to secure her appearance if she does not cooperate.

Meanwhile, we are going to take a good, hard look today at homelessness on the streets of LA, and other big, Leftist-run cities.

After this hearing, I will introduce the Recovery First Housing Act, which requires federally funded housing services to offer substance abuse treatment. I've also introduced legislation to codify President Trumps work to end crime and disorder on America's streets, and ensure our tax dollars only support housing services for U.S. citizens.

Before I close, I am going to play a brief video clip of the reality of the homeless on Skid Row.