WASHINGTON, D.C.— U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, wrote to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) Joseph Cuffari regarding his office’s reported probe into DHS’s award of $220 million in no bid contracts for an advertising campaign featuring former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The Senators also asked if any of DHS OIG’s potential inquiries into the ad campaign have been restricted by DHS, Noem, or the White House.
“It appears that your office has initiated a probe, which may be separate from the annual audit, into the circumstances surrounding the Department’s decision to award these contracts. According to public reporting, former Secretary Noem is “retaliating” against this probe by blocking access to key material on a number of OIG investigations because she and Mr. Lewandowski “could be implicated in the watchdog probe” of these no bid advertising contracts,” wrote Senators Welch and Blumenthal. “This reporting raises serious concerns about whether DHS is intentionally restricting OIG’s access to information necessary to complete a review of the contracts awarded as part of the Department’s ad campaigns.”
Earlier this month, Senators Welch and Blumenthal wrote to The Strategy Group Company, Safe America Media LLC, and People Who Think LLC, requesting documents and information related to contracts they received under Noem’s ad campaign. The Senators also wrote to Republican advertising companies Strategic Media Services Inc. and Smart Media Group LLC requesting information and records related to their agreements with Safe America Media, which reportedly engaged both companies to place the taxpayer-funded ads. This week, the Senators released new details on production costs associated with Noem’s advertising campaign filmed at Mount Rushmore, including tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars spent on a “signing bonus” to Strategy Group, horse rentals, hair and makeup services, more than $100,000 in labor costs, and more than $40,000 in other vendor costs.
Read the Senators’ letter here and below:
Dear Inspector General Cuffari,
On March 2, 2026, you notified Congress that over the last several months, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has “systematically obstructed the work” of your office. We write to request information concerning the Department’s lack of cooperation and how it may be affecting any inquiry related to former Secretary Kristi Noem’s approval of no bid contracts to produce ad campaigns under her “national emergency authority.”
On November 19, 2025, Senator Welch sent you a letter requesting that your office investigate former Secretary Noem’s approval of $220 million in media contracts—absent a competitive bidding process—to firms with which she and her senior advisors have personal ties. The following day, Senator Blumenthal sent a similar letter to you with members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
In a January 21, 2026, response, you assured Senator Welch that his request had been provided to the OIG’s Office of Audits for “consideration in its work planning process, which includes a mandated annual audit of grants and contracts awarded by means other than full and open competition.”
It appears that your office has initiated a probe, which may be separate from the annual audit, into the circumstances surrounding the Department’s decision to award these contracts. According to public reporting, former Secretary Noem is “retaliating” against this probe by blocking access to key material on a number of OIG investigations because she and Mr. Lewandowski “could be implicated in the watchdog probe” of these no bid advertising contracts.
This reporting raises serious concerns about whether DHS is intentionally restricting OIG’s access to information necessary to complete a review of the contracts awarded as part of the Department’s ad campaigns. In order to better understand challenges that DHS OIG may be facing in its review of these contracts, please provide answers to the following questions by March 27, 2026.
- Has DHS OIG initiated an investigation into DHS’s award of $220 million in no bid contracts related to its ad campaigns?
- If so, when is this review expected to be complete?
- Have any of DHS OIG’s inquiries related to DHS’s award of media contracts associated with the ad campaign been impeded by the Department?
- If so, what restrictions has DHS imposed and who has imposed them?
- Please provide any written or electronic communications with any Executive Branch official that discusses the impediments or restrictions you are facing.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Senator Peter Welch
Senator Richard Blumenthal
Read and download the Senators’ letter here.
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