Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem found herself under fire from GOP senators on Tuesday, facing criticism for her department’s expenditure of $220 million in taxpayer money on television advertisements that prominently feature her.
Noem, aged 54, was present at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing dedicated to overseeing her department’s activities. The substantial cost of the ad campaign, aimed at discouraging illegal immigration, quickly became a focal point of the discussion.
Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana questioned Noem’s decision, highlighting the inconsistency between budget cuts to DHS contracts and the lavish spending on ads. “How do you justify spending $220 million on television advertisements that prominently feature you?” he asked.
In response, Noem explained, “The president directed me to spread the message both domestically and internationally through commercials, urging those illegally residing in the country to depart.”
Despite her explanation, Senator Kennedy expressed skepticism, doubting whether President Trump would have sanctioned such an expensive campaign. “I’m not disputing your honesty, but it’s hard for me to believe,” he remarked.
“I’m not saying you’re not telling the truth. It’s just hard for me to believe,’’ he said.
But Noem indicated she had the president’s approval and insisted that the ads have been effective — as she pleaded with Dem foes to end the government funding lapse of her agency that has raged since Feb. 14.
“They were effective in your name recognition,” Kennedy shot back at the secretary.
“It puts the president in a terribly awkward spot,’’ he said of her tactic.
Democratic Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also zeroed in on $143 million of the DHS $220 million expenditure that went to an ad contract with Safe America Media.
The firm is run by Ben Yoho, who is the husband of former DHS rep Tricia McLaughlin.
Yoho has previously done work for Noem as well as special government employee Corey Lewandowski, a close confidant of the secretary.
“Are you saying it’s just a coincidence?” Schiff asked of DHS’s awarding of the contract to the Yoho.
“It’s just a happy circumstance, a fortuitous event, that $143 million … went to a subcontractor that you worked with extensively as governor in South Dakota or during your campaign — that that is just coincidental?” he asked Noem.
She insisted that DHS abided by its rules for such contracts and denied being involved with the award process. Revelations about the Safe America Media deal were reported by ProPublica in November.
But Welch noted, “Safe America was incorporated 11 days — or seven days by my count — before they got a $143 million contract.
“Now, as an administrator who has fiscal responsibility over a huge budget, do you realistically think that a company that was created 11 days before they got $143 million is in a position to execute on a $143 million contract?” he asked.
Noem largely sat unfazed during the at times contentious hearing before the panel, where Democrats also needled her over various controversies involving her department’s alleged heavy-handed immigration enforcement operations.
She warned that the funding hold has major national security ramifications.
