Mayor Karen Bass skips congressional homelessness hearing to attend Pacific Palisades groundbreaking
Mayor Karen Bass did not appear before the House subcommittee on federal homelessness funding, opting instead to join Rick Caruso, JJ Redick and others at a groundbreaking in the fire-damaged Pacific Palisades.
According to her schedule, Mayor Karen Bass will attend a 1 p.m. groundbreaking in Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood still recovering from the January 2025 wildfires, joining billionaire developer Rick Caruso, Lakers coach JJ Redick and other community leaders to rebuild the local park and recreation center. The event occurs on the same day she was slated to testify before the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency in Washington, D.C., which is holding a hearing titled “Fixing Fraud and Failure in Federally Funded Homelessness Services.”
Bass’s attorney previously told the panel that the mayor could not be present, without providing a reason. The committee has asked for documents back to 2020 concerning LAHSA’s internal controls, federal funding and communications with the mayor’s office, the City Council and the County Board of Supervisors. While the mayor’s office has supplied roughly 4,000 pages of budget material, it has not yet provided non-public records, and the panel plans further follow-up. Bass has recently stepped down from LAHSA’s governing commission, citing the agency’s heightened scrutiny, and the hearing will proceed with other witnesses such as Paul Webster and Jonathan Choe.
Why it matters
The mayor’s absence from a federal oversight hearing raises questions about accountability for billions in homelessness aid.
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