Firm With Ties to Kristi Noem Secretly Benefited From $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts

Reporting in November 2025 revealed that DHS bypassed competitive bidding to award a $220 million advertising contract, with the bulk going to Safe America Media, a Delaware LLC created days before the deal was finalized. Safe America Media then secretly funneled a substantial portion of that money to the Strategy Group, a firm with long-standing personal and business ties to Secretary Kristi Noem, including work on her past gubernatorial campaign; the Strategy Group's CEO is married to Noem's DHS spokesperson.

Five senators and two representatives called for DHS to investigate and demanded documents, asking whether Noem, senior adviser Corey Lewandowski, or other DHS employees financially benefited from the arrangement. The episode fits a broader pattern of expedited, limited-competition contracting during the Trump administration's border and immigration enforcement push.

As of the reporting, DHS had not substantively responded to the specific financial-benefit allegations, and congressional Democrats were pressing for records and a formal probe into the contracting process.