Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is at the center of a significant controversy involving more than two hundred million dollars in Department of Homeland Security advertising contracts. Earlier this fall, Kristi Noem launched a major television ad campaign while on horseback at Mount Rushmore with a pointed message toward immigration enforcement, saying break our laws, we will punish you. The campaign itself is part of a taxpayer funded effort that Noem has emphasized is essential for curbing illegal immigration, according to reporting from both ProPublica and Bloomberg.

Investigative journalists have revealed that a large share of this ad campaign funding has been directed to firms with long standing personal and business connections to Noem and her top aides at the Department of Homeland Security. The main ad company involved in the high profile Mount Rushmore shoot is the Strategy Group, which previously worked on Noem’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign. The firm is led by Ben Yoho, who is married to Kristi Noem’s chief spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin. This firm’s involvement was not listed on official public contracts. Instead, most of the contract dollars—one hundred forty three million dollars of the available two hundred twenty million—went to a newly created and somewhat mysterious company called Safe America Media, which reportedly lists its address at the Virginia home of a longtime Republican operative.

Contracting experts told ProPublica that the relationship between the Strategy Group, its affiliates, and the Department of Homeland Security leadership presents potential violations of federal ethics and contracting laws. They emphasized the need for formal investigations into possible conflicts of interest and the process by which these contracts were awarded, since regulations forbid conflicts and demand impartial procedures. A former member of the Commission on Wartime Contracting described the situation as corrupt, highlighting the need for more oversight and transparency.

The scale of advertising contracts issued under Noem’s leadership is unprecedented, with the Department of Homeland Security ad budget tripling in the last fiscal year. Questions remain about how much the Strategy Group and its connections have ultimately profited, as Safe America Media’s distribution of the funds is not publicly detailed and key participants declined to respond to journalist’s inquiries.

Kristi Noem’s office maintains that all processes were by the book and denied involvement in the selection of subcontractors. However, the public scrutiny and calls for investigation continue as her agency claims historic success at securing the United States border. The situation is developing, and further updates are expected as oversight committees and watchdogs review the matter.

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