Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s demand to personally sign-off on department expenses over $100,000 is causing severe operational delays — some in areas that are “critical” to defending national security, a new report has claimed.
More than 500 funding requests were awaiting direct approval from Noem on July 30, with another 1,500 requiring approval from lower level department staffers before being sent on to her, according to The New York Times.
Noem introduced the new rule as part of a crack down on apparent wasteful spending within DHS.
Internal documents, reviewed by The Times, revealed that the backlog of requests is impacting work across DHS agencies and divisions including Immigration, Border Control, TSA, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In spreadsheets detailing reasons for the requests, some agencies described their contracts as “mission critical.”
In June, Noem said her request reviews could take up to five days but the documents reportedly show that many are taking weeks to process.
A DHS spokesperson denied the claims and toldThe Times that, as of this past Monday, Noem did “not have a single contract on her desk awaiting signature.” The newspaper was unable to confirm that statement.
The Independent has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment about the reported delays and backlog of requests.
In one example, a TSA request to renew a contract for technology that helps detect fake passports at the U.S. border expired in early July while awaiting Noem’s approval, according to The Times.
The lack of such equipment means that more passports are required to be checked manually by TSA agents, and “increases the likelihood of bad actors boarding aircraft using fraudulent identification,” the memo stated.
Last month, FEMA workers reported running into red tape while assembling resources in response to catastrophic flooding in central Texas, because of Noem’s personal approval process.
FEMA officials told CNN they were unable to pre-position Urban Search and Rescue crews from across the country in Texas, and criticized the low threshold of requests needing personal sign-off.
Documents, reviewed by The Times, also show that the threshold for personal approval had dramatically decreased from $25 million in March to $20 million in May, and then to $100,000 in June.
“FEMA doesn’t sneeze without spending that amount of money,” a former official anonymously told NBC News in July. The Independent has requested comment on the decline in amounts. DHS spokesperson declined to comment to The Times.
Though the cost of federal disaster responses can vary, a preliminary estimate by AccuWeather, put the damages caused by the Texas flash flooding, which claimed more than 80 lives, at $18 billion – $22 billion.
Customs and Border Protection had 180 pending contracts awaiting Noem’s approval at the end of last month, according to The Times. One request awaiting approval was related to polygraph tests for prospective new recruits to law enforcement.
“Without the support this contract provides, Customs and Border Protection would be unable to efficiently and effectively schedule and document required examinations to maintain current authorized law enforcement positions that are an Administration priority,” CBP officials wrote.
The officials added that “any lapse in services” would undermine “an administration priority” of increasing staffing levels. The Trump administration plans to hire 3,000 new border patrol agents and 10,000 new ICE agents as part of the president’s mass deportation agenda targeting undocumented migrants.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said that the $100,000 threshold approval policy had been implemented to ensure that “money goes precisely where it’s needed most” rather than to “greedy fat cat contractors.”
“It is stunning that for years career bureaucrats were unilaterally signing off on hundred-million-dollar contracts leading to massive waste, fraud and abuse of U.S. taxpayer dollars,” McLaughlin told The Times.
While she did not deny that there had been delays within DHS branches, McLaughlin blamed them on a “lack of process and accountability that has plagued these components for decades.”
