HUD and HHS chiefs denounce LA homeless authority, push faith-based solutions

During a Los Angeles press conference, HUD Secretary Scott Turner and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lambasted the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, alleging mismanagement and corruption and stating that no further HUD dollars should be released without proper oversight. Their comments came as U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter was expected to rule on LAHSA’s lawsuit challenging HUD’s suspension, which prevents the agency from filing for about $240 million in homelessness funds due August 26.

HUD’s suspension forces service providers to apply directly to the department, sparking a legal dispute over national homelessness funding rules. The administration is pushing faith-based recovery and transitional housing programs, arguing that the housing-first approach enables addiction, illustrated by a drug-paraphernalia bag shown at the event. The press conference was held at the LA Dream Center, a faith-based treatment facility highlighted as a model for the preferred strategy. A Rhode Island federal court has already blocked a similar shift in HUD’s 2025 funding, and the same judge recently set aside the 2026 funding offer, which may undermine the August deadline driving the LA case.