The $1 workaround to Kristi Noem's accountability pledge
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Businesses and bureaucrats found a workaround for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's order to personally review every contract over $100,000:
- Since August, DHS has awarded 11 new contracts between $99,999 and $99,999.99.
Why it matters: Noem made a splash with her new initiative in June, which covers a significant portion of the department operations. It's cut some costs but slowed the agency's ongoing payments.
- Back in August, DHS said it had saved $10.7 billion after Noem's pledge to personally review contracts over $100,000, according to a press release.
Driving the news: A review of government contracts from the Project of Government Oversight found just seven other DHS contracts for $99,999 over the past 10 years prior to this August.
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Secret Service and Border Patrol have all issued awards between $99,999 and $99,999.99 after Noem's sign-off rule started.
Zoom out: With such a low cost threshold for review, the secretary's office delayed routine contracts and grants across DHS components as well as "mission critical" work, as the New York Times reported.
- It has also slowed down the flow of FEMA's recovery support spending, bothering lawmakers from both parties.
- "The concerns we've heard are that they're not getting processed in a timely manner for the stuff that's not controversial," Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee overseeing DHS, told Axios in September.
- Amodei said that he spoke with the agency about the time lag. "Hey everyone is happy you want to review them, but whatever the system is needs to take that into account," he said.
Zoom in: Palantir, a contractor with billions of dollars worth of business with the government, took one of the payments for $99,999.99 in October for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the office that handles legal immigration paperwork.
- Another contract was for "chemical weapons and equipment" from Quantico Tactical to Border Patrol in September. The cost was $99,999.96.
- Secret Service paid MacGyver Solutions $99,999.99 for ATVs in September.
The bottom line: "These contracts were for routine operational needs," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told POGO.
