During a tense Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana squared off with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem regarding a $220 million television advertising campaign.
The exchange focused on allegations of no-bid contracts and the prominent featuring of Noem herself in the taxpayer-funded commercials.
The inquiry followed claims by Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont that the department awarded contracts to firms with personal ties to Noem and her senior staff. Kennedy pressed Noem on how she reconciled her stated concerns about government waste with the significant price tag of the media blitz.
“How do you square that concern for waste, which I share, with the fact that you have spent $220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently?” Kennedy asked.
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Noem defended the expenditure, stating that the campaign was a direct directive from the White House to curb illegal immigration.
“Sir, the president tasked me with getting the message out to the country and to other countries where we were seeing the invasion come from,” Noem testified. She explained the ads warned those in the country illegally to leave or face detention and removal, calling the strategy “extremely effective.”
The senator specifically questioned the procurement process for the contracts. While Noem insisted that the contracts underwent a competitive bidding process handled by career officials, Kennedy pointed to findings that a firm called Safe America Media was selected just 11 days after its formation.
He also noted that Strategy Group, a subcontractor for the ads, was led by an individual married to Noem’s former spokesperson.
Kennedy expressed deep skepticism regarding the involvement of President Donald Trump and OMB Director Russ Vought in approving such a specific and costly campaign.
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“It’s just hard for me to believe, knowing the president as I do, that you said, ‘Mr. President, here’s some ads I’ve cut, and I’m gonna spend $220 million running them’ that he would have agreed to that,” Kennedy said.
He further suggested the ads were more effective at building Noem’s “name recognition” than serving a policy goal.
Noem maintained that she did not influence the selection of the contractors and asserted that federal regulations prevented the department from investigating every subcontractor involved.
“It troubles me, a fifth to a quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer money, when we’re scratching for every penny,” Kennedy concluded. Noem stood by the department’s process, reiterating that career officials managed the selection and that the president was aware of the campaign’s goals.
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