PULSE POINTS
❓WHAT HAPPENED: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced criticism over a $220 million ad campaign.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Kristi Noem, Senator John Kennedy (R-LA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and President Donald J. Trump.
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📍WHEN & WHERE: The hearing took place on a Tuesday, March 3, 2026.
💬KEY QUOTE: “The President approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you feature prominently?” – Sen. John Kennedy
🎯IMPACT: The ad campaign raised questions about spending priorities and the bidding process.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem faced criticism from Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) during a hearing, as he questioned the effectiveness and intent of a $220 million ad campaign supposedly targeting illegal immigrants. Kennedy suggested the campaign was more about boosting Noem’s name recognition than promoting the Trump administration’s agenda.
“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?” Sen. Kennedy pressed during Sec. Noem’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. Noem responded, “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, with putting commercials out that told them that if they were in this country illegally, they needed to leave.”
“The President asked you to run these advertisements. Is that correct?” Kennedy continued, with Noem stating that President Donald J. Trump did. The DHS Secretary further stated that the contracts to produce the ads went out to a competitive bid. When pressed further about whether the contractors who produced the television ads had formerly worked for her political operation in South Dakota, Noem insisted they had not, but did not clearly answer whether their subcontractors had.
Sen. Kenney again circled back to whether President Trump had approved Noem spending $220 million on the advertisement campaign “in which you [Noem] feature prominently?” Again, Sec. Noem answered in the affirmative and insisted the television ads had been effective.
“They were effective in your name recognition… To me, it puts the President in a terribly awkward spot—and I’m not saying you’re not telling the truth, 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,” Sen. Kennedy responded, adding, “I don’t think Russ Vought would’ve agreed to that. It’s something we have to defend… It troubles me. A quarter of a billion in taxpayer money when we’re scratching for every penny.”
The Strategy Group, a firm with ties to Noem and Corey Lewandowski, acted as a subcontractor on the ad campaign for Safe America Media, LLC, the firm initially awarded the contract. Safe America Media, LLC was formed just days before receiving the contract, bypassing the usual competitive bidding process due to a national emergency declaration. The Strategy Group’s involvement has drawn further scrutiny as its CEO is married to former DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Tricia McLaughlin.
Following Kennedy’s comments, McLaughlin responded in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “[Sen. Kennedy], if you’re going to accuse someone of corruption, you better have your facts straight. No, my husband doesn’t own Safe America and is not apart of it. He nor his company have ever had a contract with DHS.”
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