INV-014 · Money & ethics · Contracts
$220M DHS ad campaign featuring Kristi Noem
Stage 2 of 5: Inquiry · Letters and records requests · Last development 10 Mar 2026
DHS skipped normal competitive bidding for a $220 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign starring Noem. Most of the money went to a company formed days before the deal. A firm tied to Noem and her aides, whose CEO is married to the DHS spokesperson, worked on it as an undisclosed subcontractor.
- People
- Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski, The Strategy Group, Safe America Media
- Agencies
- Homeland Security Dept
- Reviewed by
- Senate Democrats, House Oversight (minority), DHS Inspector General (requested)
Money involved
- $220 million No-bid DHS ad contracts (Taxpayer money in questioned contracts, loans and funds) [2]
Timeline
Sens. Welch and Blumenthal open an investigation with letters to the three ad firms. Safe America Media got a $143M non-competitive contract seven days after it was incorporated; People Who Think got $77M. [2]
After ProPublica's reporting, four Senate Homeland Security Democrats and Sen. Welch ask the DHS Inspector General to investigate. Reps. Thompson and Garcia demand communications. [1]
Responses
Who is acting on it
- Asked for an investigation Senate Homeland Security Democrats, Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT): Asked the DHS inspector general to investigate the ad contracts (24 Nov 2025, No reply or result recorded yet)
- Letter Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA): Demanded DHS communications about the ads (24 Nov 2025, No reply or result recorded yet)
- Letter Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): Opened an inquiry with letters to the three ad firms (10 Mar 2026, No reply or result recorded yet)
Sources
Cite this case
Public Trust Tracker. "$220M DHS ad campaign featuring Kristi Noem" (INV-014). Last updated 10 Mar 2026. https://publictrusttracker.org/case/inv-014-220m-dhs-ad-campaign-featuring-kristi-noem/
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