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California GOP leaders call for accountability after state can’t account for $24B spent on homeless crisis

California GOP leaders call for accountability after state can’t account for B spent on homeless crisis

California GOP leaders are calling for more accountability after an audit released earlier this week indicated that the state spent around $24 billion to tackle the homeless crisis over the past five years but did not consistently track whether the huge outlay of public money did anything to actually improve the problem.  The state auditor’s report found that despite roughly $24 billion spent on homeless and housing programs during the 2018-2023 fiscal years, the problem didn’t improve in many cities, according to the state auditor’s report. Among other things, the report found that the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH), which is responsible for coordinating agencies and allocating resources for the homelessness programs, stopped tracking whether the programs were working in 2021.  It also failed to collect and evaluate outcome data for these programs due to the lack of a consistent method, the audit found.  MINNEAPOLIS RESIDENTS URGE CITY TO SHUT DOWN NEIGHBORHOOD HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT AFTER EXPLOSION, STABBING California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher laid the blame squarely on the Newsom administration.  “This is standard Gavin Newsom – make a splashy announcement, waste a bunch of taxpayer money, and completely fail to deliver,” Gallagher said in a statement to Fox News Digital.  “Californians are tired of the homeless crisis, and they’re even more tired of Gavin’s excuses. We need results – period, full stop.”  Republican state Sen. Roger Niello has called the audit “troubling” but told Fox News Digital he “wasn’t terribly surprised.  “The one issue I had with the audit was that the focus was mostly on housing and shelter issues, which is certainly important, but really very little about actual results, getting people out of homelessness, not just into shelter,” he said. “That’s sort of half the job, maybe not even quite half the job. And, so that was a little bit of a disappointment.”  Democratic state Sen. Dave Cortese, who requested the audit last year after touring a large homeless encampment in San Jose, said the audit “highlights the need for improved data and greater transparency at both the state and local levels.”  “Unfortunately, there is a balkanized approach to data collection and outcomes, with no centralized system for tracking our investments,” he said. “This audit underscores the urgent need to establish best practices and create a blueprint for how the State of California and our cities can address our most visible challenge.”  CA REPUBLICAN CRITICIZES GAVIN NEWSOM’S HOMELESS STRATEGY: ‘YOU CAN’T KEEP THROWING MONEY AT THE SYMPTOMS’ Former MLB All-Star Steve Garvey, who is running against Rep. Adam Schiff in California’s U.S. Senate race as a Republican, said it would take “real political courage to make necessary changes.”  “Since day one, I’ve advocated for a federal audit of California’s homelessness crisis,” he said. “I’m glad that the state has done this, but now we need real political courage to make necessary changes. Our unhoused people and our taxpayers deserve real results, not more failed policies.”  Despite the audit’s findings, Cal ICH said it has made improvements in data collection after AB 977 took effect on January 1, 2023. The law requires that grantees of state-funded homelessness programs to enter specific data elements related to individuals and families into their local Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).  Still, Cal ICH is shifting blame to local governments, saying these municipalities must be held more accountable as they are the ones “primarily responsible for implementing these programs and collecting data on outcomes that the state can use to evaluate program effectiveness.”  “The Council continues to improve its ability to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent judiciously and effectively, including by providing technical support to local jurisdictions to help align data standards and reporting,” Cal ICH said.  The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House committee sets up vote to expand Section 702 of FISA for 2 years

House committee sets up vote to expand Section 702 of FISA for 2 years

The House Rules Committee inched a little closer to extending the life of the federal government surveillance tool known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), after approving a two-year extension late Thursday. While the committee approved the measure, it now goes up for debate and amendment votes, which could be followed by a vote Friday. CONGRESS CANNOT LET FISA SECTION 702 EXPIRE The House Rules Committee met at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday to re-up the FISA authorization bill for the floor for the second time this week. The bill, which was backed by Speaker Mike Johnson, was blocked by more than a dozen House GOP members. Now that the House Rules Committee has advanced a rule to set up a debate on the reauthorization of FISA in an 8-4 vote, a vote on the rule will likely take place on Friday morning. If the rule passes, a vote on the final passage could take place later in the day.

Rep. Mike Garcia slams FBI director as being ineffective at his job: ‘I don’t trust you’

Rep. Mike Garcia slams FBI director as being ineffective at his job: ‘I don’t trust you’

Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., blatantly told FBI Director Christopher Wray that he does not trust him, while accusing him of not being transparent and standing “relatively silent” about the southern border instead of helping to shape policies on the matter, particularly regarding national security. Wray met with the House Appropriations subcommittee on Thursday afternoon urging Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to be reauthorized by Congress and to discuss next year’s budget, and while some of the discussion involved dollar figures, the FBI director was there to defend efforts to fend off terrorist attacks and the infiltration of the U.S. by violent gangs through the southern border, many of which are connected to the fentanyl epidemic. When it was time for Garcia to question Wray, the Congressional representative did not hold back. “I’ll be honest with you, and this pains me to say this, but I don’t trust you,” Garcia told Wray. MORE THAN 40 SENATE REPUBLICANS CALL FOR MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL IN LETTER TO SCHUMER The legislator told Wray he did not think it was a funding problem, but rather a “lack of transparency,” along with the “weaponization and politicization” of issues and instruments used for national security against Americans and institutions, like churches. Garcia accused Wray of standing relatively silent and passive about “the biggest national security threat” to the U.S. – referring to the southern border — and refused to give “little credence” in the director’s ability to do his job or lead the “brave agents” below him. “I don’t trust you to protect us,” Garcia said. “I think because of your inability to lead and also shape the policies and the DOJ and at the White House, we are now in a more precarious position than we were, I would submit, than we were on September 10th of 2001.” FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY CITES INCREASED FOREIGN THREATS IN FISA REAUTHORIZATION PLEA: ‘ROGUE’S GALLERY’ Wray appeared to listen as the congressional representative continued to attack him and his reputation. During the hearing, Wray spoke about the border and his concerns about it being open, particularly in terms of how the opening benefits the cartels and the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. He told the subcommittee that when agents take down violent gangs, they notice it includes the seizure of fentanyl. The fentanyl, Wray explained, is coming from the cartels, which are getting the dangerous drug from China. HOUSE BRACES FOR BATTLE OVER RENEWING CONTROVERSIAL FISA SURVEILLANCE TOOL “Last year, I guess the last two years in a row…the FBI seized enough fentanyl to kill 270 million American people,” he said. “And that gives you a sense of the scale of what we’re up against.” Wray continued to speak about instances with the Sinaloa and CJNG cartels, saying he has asked for help from the Mexican government in dealing with these dangerous criminals. Efforts to target the cartels include going after their money and assets and other infrastructure, as well as going after leadership. But to do so, he added, the FBI is going to need more money. Garcia told Wray that prior to him being able to ask questions, the FBI director had only mentioned the southern border about four times, closing over the idea that there are over 7 million people who have entered the country illegally, 350 of whom are on the FBI terror watch list, and 1.7 million who were able to flee border patrols before being apprehended. FBI DIRECTOR SAYS CHINESE HACKERS ARE ‘POISED TO ATTACK’ AS INFILTRATIONS REACH ‘FEVER PITCH’ The representative accused Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and President Biden of not protecting American citizens, and putting them into a “clear and present danger situation.” “You have been unable to change the policies driven by your leadership,” Garcia told Wray, adding he was ineffective at shaping policies that affect national security. “Can I just get a simple yes or no response,” Garcia asked. “Does the border policy make your job easier or harder, or are we safer or less safe as a result of the open border policy?” Wray responded and said he had been consistent in citing his concerns about the threats along the border, adding he disagreed “very strongly” with a number of aspects of it. He then asked if he had gone to Biden and pointed out that the “border policy is a galactic stupid policy from a national security perspective,” and if so, how it went. “Well, I’m not going to get into specific conversations with people,” Wray said. “I’ve been consistent in my message externally and internally about my concerns about the threats that are from the FBI’s perspective, that emanate from the border.”