DHS internal watchdog launches investigation into handling of contracts under Noem, Lewandowski

By Priscilla Alvarez, Gabe Cohen, Michael Williams, CNN

(CNN) — The Department of Homeland Security inspector general has launched a sprawling investigation into how contracts have been solicited and handled, including the involvement of former Secretary Kristi Noem and her de facto chief of staff Corey Lewandowski, according to two sources familiar with the probe.

Noem’s handling of contracts within DHS was one of the main catalysts for her ouster by President Donald Trump earlier this month. Lewandowski’s micromanagement of the department, including his involvement in contracts, was a persistent source of tension with White House officials, CNN has reported.

The Office of the Inspector General previously announced an audit into DHS grants and contracts awarded “by any means other than full and open competition during fiscal year 2025,” according to its website. The inspector general, Joseph Cuffari, complained to Congress in early March that DHS leadership had been obstructing some of his work.

One of the sources familiar with the issue said the IG investigation that includes Noem and Lewandowski is separate from the previously announced audit. The source said investigators had ordered dozens of DHS officials to preserve records as part of the new probe.

In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for the DHS OIG said its office does not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation, and noted that its audit of some DHS grants and contracts is congressionally mandated and required on a yearly basis. It is not clear which specific contracts the IG is investigating. The OIG audit, the spokesperson added, is paused because the team handling the audit was furloughed as part of the DHS shutdown.

“Once funding is restored, this audit will be resumed,” the statement said.

CNN has reached out to a phone number and email address listed for Lewandowski for comment about the inspector general’s probe. The State Department, where Noem currently works as a special envoy focusing on countering drug trafficking, referred a request for comment back to DHS.

During a pair of congressional hearings earlier this month, members of Congress, including some Republicans, were particularly critical of the $220 million worth of advertising contracts that were doled out to promote the agency’s mission and which prominently featured Noem.

Noem defended the spending by saying those advertisements successfully convinced undocumented immigrants to leave the United States. But she also claimed that Trump had approved that advertisement spending, which the president later denied.

Noem also instituted a policy that required her approval of any grants and contracts over $100,000, therefore requiring her to be read in on multiple federal contracts for approval.

That policy prompted broad complaints within the agency where most contracts exceeded that amount and caused bottlenecks in funding for much-needed relief after a string of natural disasters last year, CNN previously reported.

During Trump’s first year in office, DHS received an unprecedented amount of funding to carry out the president’s deportation agenda – a cornerstone goal of his administration and one which he successfully used to run for president.

The agency last year received a $165 billion infusion from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including $65 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement alone. The funding is being used from everything to hiring thousands of additional ICE officers to building sprawling detention centers to hold immigrants detained by the agency.

In a letter to Congress just prior to Noem’s ouster earlier this month, Cuffari said the agency had “systematically obstructed” its work over the last several months, including by denying access to internal records and information. The letter goes on to list 11 instances in which OIG said it was obstructed – including one having to do with “a criminal investigation with national security implications.”

Current DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin vowed during his confirmation hearing that he would cooperate with the inspector general to the extent required by law.

“I will do everything required of me by law and the policies that you guys give me,” Mullin said. “There won’t be any gray area with me.”

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