Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) recently released a video on social media updating his followers on the work that the Department of Government Efficiency has been up to, noting that the mainstream media has not been dedicating any airtime to what they have been accomplishing. In the video, he discussed a hearing that took place in Los Angeles, California, concerning the homeless situation and the billion dollars the city was sent that is now largely unaccounted for.
“Three things have happened, though. We had our hearing Tuesday. Karen Bass has resigned from LAHSA. She’s the mayor of L.A. LAHSA is the organization responsible for dispersing the money and being held accountable for it, which they obviously weren’t. Several people apparently have been charged. The Justice Department has gone in dealing with some things that we dealt with in the committee on Tuesday,” Burchett said in the video.
“And then today we’re hearing that LAHSA has decided basically to disband, or will no longer be responsible for dispersing any money for the homeless folks in Los Angeles and in that area,” he added. Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, announced her resignation from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, saying that she would appoint a replacement for the position.
“Mayor Bass is stepping off the board of LAHSA tomorrow, Sept. 9, and will be appointing a new appointee,” a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office revealed, according to a report from The New York Post. Bass’ sudden departure from the agency comes as it faces scrutiny concerning how it has handled taxpayer money. The mayor herself is being pressured by Congress to explain what happened to the billion dollars they were sent to aid the homeless.
DOGE had demanded that Bass make an appearance at a September 15 hearing that was set up to dive deep into alleged “waste, fraud, and abuse” concerning federal homelessness funding, but she informed the panel she was unavailable to testify on that date. “By stepping down from the LAHSA board, Mayor Bass has all but admitted that she failed to address Los Angeles’ homelessness crisis,” Subcommittee Chairman Tim Burchett said in a statement given to The California Post.
“If Mayor Bass wanted to take responsibility, she would appear and testify at Tuesday’s Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency hearing,” he added. Burchett’s staff revealed that Bass’ office contacted subcommittee staff and said she could not testify, but offered no reason why. The office reportedly told the subcommittee that she could testify at a future hearing.
Bass’ resignation from LAHSA comes after it was revealed that she has mostly been absent from the commission she appointed herself to. Out of a total of 47 LAHSA commission hearings, Bass skipped out on 25 of them. She appointed herself to the board in 2023. Out of 21 meetings held this year, she was absent for 13 of them.
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The mayor later stated that she does not have time to act in the role. “I am going to be stepping down because I just — in terms of time and all,” Bass told KFI during an appearance on the “Gary and Shannon” show. Her three-year term on the board technically expired on June 30, but she remained on the panel anyway.
“Democrats have proven time and again that they have no interest in solving the homelessness crisis plaguing America’s cities. Instead of pursuing solutions that work, they continue throwing millions of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars at a broken system,” Burchett said. LAHSA has since voted not to reapply as the region’s lead federal homeless services agency past mid-2027.