Mullin Reverses Widely Criticized Noem Policy

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has rescinded a rule that DHS expenditures over $100,000 be personally approved by his office. The move ends a widely criticized policy implemented by his predecessor, Kristi Noem, that critics said put a particular burden on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's work aiding disaster response and recovery, the AP reports.

• The Wednesday decision marks the first major action by the new Homeland Security leader, sworn in last week, to change a policy implemented by Noem, whom President Trump fired in March. Mullin's move is expected to ease a spending bottleneck that lawmakers and states said delayed disaster response and recovery funds, though those impacts are unlikely to be widely felt until after the end of the DHS shutdown.

A DHS spokesperson told the AP that Mullin "re-evaluated the contract processes to make sure DHS is serving the American taxpayer efficiently." The spokesperson said Mullin's action will streamline the contracting process and allocate aid more efficiently. The International Association of Emergency Managers praised Mullin's decision. "We appreciate Secretary Mullin's common-sense approach to this matter, and we look forward to working with him," said Josh Morton, president of IAEM-USA.

• Noem issued a directive last June requiring that she personally approve any Department of Homeland Security expenditure over $100,000. Critics said the rule undermined FEMA in particular, an agency that routinely issues contracts and reimbursements well over that amount in its work preparing for and responding to natural and manmade disasters across the US.

• The policy created "an untenable situation for emergency managers," Morton said, and a bottleneck that also hindered mitigation and preparedness programs, "putting Americans at increased risk from disasters."
• A recently released report by Democratic members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee found the approval rule had delayed at least 1,000 FEMA contracts, grants, or disaster reimbursements by September.
• The policy came under scrutiny after news reports linked it to unstaffed call centers and delays deploying FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams to Texas during deadly floods last July, and brought sharp rebuke from some state officials and lawmakers, especially Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, whose state is still recovering from devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene in 2024. "You've failed at FEMA," Tillis told Noem at a Senate hearing the day before she was fired
• DHS is reviewing other policies across the agency, pausing the purchase of new warehouses for immigration detention this week as it reviews contracts signed under Noem.