HUD's defunding of LAHSA was overdue given the agency's obvious failure and corruption
Source: Chris Bray. "HUD Pulls Funds From Dying Los Angeles Homeless Agency." June 11, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that HUD was right to cut funding from LA's homeless agency because it wasted money on fraud while homelessness got worse. The real question isn't whether this was harsh, but why it took so long when even local Democrats knew the agency was failing.
Conclusion
The Department of Housing and Urban Development's decision to withdraw federal funding from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) was justified and should have happened much sooner
Premises
- LAHSA has failed to solve homelessness despite receiving massive funding - homeless population remains around 72,000 after nine years of increased tax funding
- The agency has been plagued by financial fraud, with funds allegedly diverted to luxury spending and private jets rather than helping the homeless
- LAHSA has a structural incentive problem - as an agency funded to solve homelessness, ending homelessness would eliminate its reason for existence
- Even Democratic officials in Los Angeles recognized LAHSA's failure, with the county pulling its funding and moving to direct county control
- The agency was already 'functionally near-dead' a year ago according to previous reporting, making HUD's action merely formal recognition of existing failure
Assumptions
- Government agencies should be defunded when they fail to achieve their stated mission
- Structural incentives matter - agencies may not work to eliminate the problems that justify their existence
- Fraud and mismanagement are indicators of fundamental organizational failure
- Federal oversight should act decisively when local oversight has already recognized failure