Schwarzenegger Blasts California’s $24 Billion Homelessness Spending: “Where Did the Money Go?”
Something doesn’t add up in the Golden State.
Despite spending more than $24 billion over the past few years to combat homelessness, California’s streets tell a different story — one of spreading encampments, surging costs, and a crisis that seems to deepen with every dollar spent.
Now, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is sounding the alarm and asking the question that no one in power seems willing to answer:
Where did all the money go?
“It’s a Black Hole”
In a candid and stinging interview, Schwarzenegger didn’t hold back.
Referring specifically to Governor Gavin Newsom’s $24 billion homelessness funding, he accused California’s leadership of flushing taxpayer dollars into a system riddled with incompetence and zero accountability.
“That $24 billion is gone because it was wasted,” Schwarzenegger said. “They can’t even account for it. There’s zero transparency. And this isn’t new — it’s been happening for the past 20 years.”
It’s a damning claim, made more disturbing by the visible truth on the ground: nearly 200,000 people remain unhoused in California, and the state’s homelessness rate is climbing faster than anywhere else in the country.
A Crisis of Cash and Credibility
The former governor’s remarks have reignited an uncomfortable conversation that many in Sacramento have sidestepped for years.
California has funneled billions into nonprofits, housing initiatives, outreach programs, and “supportive services.” Yet audits have repeatedly found loose tracking, inconsistent reporting, and outcomes that fail to match the scale of the spending.
Worse, some critics suggest the entire homelessness industrial complex has become profitable — for contractors, consultants, and bureaucrats — while the crisis itself festers.
Is Anyone Being Held Accountable?
So far, the answer appears to be no.
Despite repeated promises of “transparency,” few details have emerged about how the $24 billion was spent, which programs produced measurable results, or how success is even defined. For Schwarzenegger, that silence speaks volumes.
“You can’t fix a problem you refuse to measure,” he said. “They keep throwing money at it, but there’s no strategy — just politics.”
A Broken System or a Broken Priority?
California’s homelessness crisis has become one of the most visible symptoms of deeper dysfunction — a tangle of mismanagement, political stagnation, and perhaps willful negligence. For many residents, it feels less like a crisis being solved and more like a crisis being sustained.
Schwarzenegger’s blunt critique is more than a personal opinion — it’s a rallying cry. A demand for audits, for accountability, and for a system that actually helps the people it claims to serve.
Because if $24 billion vanished with little to show for it, what happens when the next billion gets spent?