3 days ago
The Trump administration has suspended national backing to Los Angeles’s beleaguered homelessness agency.
The announcement is nan administration’s latest move rescinding backing to California, wherever Donald Trump has feuded pinch nan state’s Democratic leaders.
In a letter to nan Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, nan largest continuum of attraction (CoC) bum services agency successful nan nation, nan US Department of Housing and Urban Development (Hud) instantly suspended costs to nan agency, pending an investigation citing allegations of fraud.
“Hud will money results, not corrupt nonaccomplishment aliases nan bum business complex,” caput Scott Turner said successful a statement. “Taxpayers will nary longer bankroll an statement that puts its ain self-interests up of nan Americans it was created to serve.”
The authority said successful an emailed connection to nan Guardian: “After first review, this appears to beryllium a blatant effort to propulsion yet much resources from Los Angeles, a metropolis they person targeted clip and again, erstwhile it is clear that Lahsa has either corrected aliases is successful nan process of correcting astir each of nan issues raised.”
According to Hud, Lahsa has received “nearly $1bn successful payer dollars complete nan past 5 years”. About 8% of Lahsa’s budget presently comes from national funding.
Los Angeles has agelong recorded 1 of nan largest bum populations successful nan country. In 2025, Lahsa estimated that 72,308 people successful nan metropolis were bum – a alteration from a 2023 highest of 75,518 people.
Los Angeles lawmakers person called for changes to Lahsa successful caller years, moreover erstwhile they person supported nan agency’s mission. In February, Los Angeles region pulled $300m from nan agency and redirected those costs to commencement nan LA region section of bum services and housing.
But nan LA region supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who was progressive successful nan determination to redirect Lahsa backing to nan county, said nan Trump administration’s prime to suspend backing to Lahsa “is for publicity, not for results”.
In a statement, she added: “I person been calling for alteration and accountability astatine Lahsa, but if this management desires accountability, too, they should activity pinch LA county.”
In its letter, Hud alleged that Lahsa had violated national conflict-of-interest rules, misused authorities costs by paying for quiet edifice rooms and grounded to supply archiving verifying lodging sites it oversaw.
Lahsa said successful a statement: “Local oversight actions person already resulted successful beardown repairs and reforms to Lahsa’s soul controls, which are accountable and viewable to nan public.
“If Hud’s inspector wide really conducts a adjacent reappraisal of Lahsa’s existent and early practices, they will intelligibly spot really our systems now let america to intelligibly way nan activity and investments that person resulted successful LA outperforming nan federation by reducing homelessness complete nan past 2 years.”
Homelessness was a cardinal rumor successful nan city’s mayoral primary, wherever voters sent nan incumbent mayor, Karen Bass, and progressive metropolis councilor Nithya Raman to a runoff predetermination aft Raman edged retired Trump’s preferred candidate, nan Republican reality TV prima Spencer Pratt. The adjacent race was decided this week.
The mayor’s agency said successful a statement: “Mayor Bass, too, has sedate concerns astir Lahsa and zero tolerance for mismanagement and negligence, which is why she antecedently directed nan metropolis to measure really to move distant from nan agency.
“Threatening national costs does thing to location group and jeopardizes nan advancement Mayor Bass has led to trim homelessness for 2 years successful a row, aft it only went up successful Los Angeles for years. Ultimately group will suffer their lives. We impulse HUD to activity pinch nan metropolis of Los Angeles to supply nan basal backing to trim homelessness.”
Raman said successful a statement: “This action by nan national authorities is precisely what I person been concerned about, and why I person pushed for years for nan metropolis to build nan capacity needed to negociate our ain contracts, programs and dollars.”
She said: “The national government’s action straight impacts nan lodging stableness of Angelenos who are housed correct now from this national funding, and jeopardizes early lodging efforts. The metropolis and region must together meaningfully prosecute pinch HUD to guarantee we are capable to proceed serving nan astir susceptible Angelenos.”
The Trump management has trim disconnected backing to California crossed a assortment of programs successful nan past year, including to a high-speed obstruction project, sex acquisition programs and nationalist universities, citing their handling of student protests against nan warfare successful Gaza.
