Add The California Post on Google Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will be thousands of miles away from Capitol Hill Tuesday — breaking ground on a community project in Pacific Palisades — when a House DOGE panel holds a hearing into alleged problems with more than $1 billion in federal homelessness funding.
Bass’s schedule shows she is set to spend the afternoon in the fire-ravaged enclave, where she will join billionaire developer Rick Caruso, Lakers coach JJ Redick and other leaders for a 1 p.m. groundbreaking ceremony.
The appearance comes on the same day she was asked to appear before the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency in Washington DC to answer questions about alleged “waste, fraud and abuse” involving federal homelessness money.
The House committee’s hearing, titled “Fixing Fraud and Failure in Federally Funded Homelessness Services,” is scheduled for Tuesday 11 pm PST.
Bass’ attorney, David Michaelson, previously told the panel that “unfortunately the mayor is not available on that date,” without explaining why she could not attend.
The DOGE panel had also demanded records dating back to 2020 concerning LAHSA’s internal controls, federal funding and communications between Bass’ office, the homeless authority, City Council and the LA County Board of Supervisors.
The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on whether it had submitted the documents requested by Congress.
A source familiar with the matter said Bass’ office has made an initial document production to the Oversight Committee, but that the materials provided so far do not appear to include non-public documents or communications.
They said roughly 4,000 of the approximately 4,800 pages provided consist of proposed and enacted city budgets, and that the committee intends to follow up with the mayor’s office regarding the remaining requested materials.
The Tuesday event is for a new community space being rebuilt in the Palisades, a neighborhood devastated by the January 2025 wildfires.
The project is a public-private effort involving Caruso’s Steadfast LA and LA Strong Sports, Redick’s nonprofit organization.
The groups are working with the city to rebuild the Pacific Palisades Park and Recreation Center, which was largely destroyed in the fires.
The DOGE investigation centers on the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which has received more than $1 billion in federal funding since 2021, according to the congressional panel.
The committee has raised allegations involving potential waste, fraud, abuse and problematic contracting and grant-making.
Bass has also recently cut ties with LAHSA, stepping down from its governing commission and saying she would appoint a replacement as the agency faced increasing scrutiny.
Her office also did not respond to previous requests from the paper seeking clarification about any prior commitments that have made her unavailable for the subcommittee hearing.
“It’s a shame that Mayor Karen Bass refuses to show up to testify about her role inall this,” Subcommittee Chairman Tim Burchett said.
“Homelessness has risen in Los Angeles on her watch, and she has overseen a culture of corruption among the nonprofits provided public dollars to address the issue.”
Paul Webster, a Cicero Institute senior fellow and former executive director of the LA Alliance for Human Rights, and journalist Jonathan Choe, a Discovery Institute senior fellow and former KOMO-TV reporter who has extensively covered homelessness, are set to testify Tuesday as the hearing moves forward without Bass.
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