Project On Government Oversight

$99,999 DHS Contracts Balloon Under Kristi Noem’s Directive Secretary Noem requiring her sign-off on spending above $100,000 has reportedly created backlogs of DHS contract awards. Some awards appear to skirt her review.

We spent the last year+ calling out abuses of power from DHS
under Noem’s leadership.

In November, our investigative newsroom reported on her office’s misconduct:

Hundreds of civilians have died in the Trump administration’s massive military campaign in Iran—a campaign that has no formal justification or approval from Congress.

The war in Iran is illegal.

The Senate’s #WarPowers resolution may have failed yesterday, but that does not mean the Senate has authorized this war.

There’s still a 60-day war powers clock in which the president MUST stop the war if he doesn’t get authorization from Congress.

Noem’s Ousting Proves That Public Pressure, Calls for Accountability Work For months, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) has tracked the ways Noem failed to uphold the Constitution and protect communities across the country.

Public pressure works.

We're glad that Kristi Noem is out as DHS Secretary after she consistently violated her oath to uphold the Constitution.

But the fight isn't over. We hope Congress ensures that her replacement does not commit the same abuses she did.

We don’t want to see her failures continue under a new name. DHS’ campaign of violence, violation of court orders, and trampling on the Constitution cannot continue.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem out, Trump says She will be replaced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Trump said Thursday.

This is what happens when Congress does its job.

This week, members of Congress brought Kristi Noem in to grill her about DHS’ failures on her watch.

It was clear that she’s not up to the job, and we’re glad she’s been removed.

Your tax dollars are funding the unconstitutional war in Iran.

In just four days, the U.S. has used at least $630 MILLION worth of Tomahawk missiles alone.

Congress must reject any legislation that provides additional funding for this illegal war.

The administration had months to make the case for war with Iran to Congress and request authorization.

There is no clear imminent threat that would legally enable a president to start this war unilaterally.

This war is unconstitutional and Congress must step in.

Noem Must Go: Congress Needs to Impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security is a threat to the public. Congress must remove her before more harm is done.

Secretary Noem has overseen federal law enforcement officers blatantly act as if they are above the law, abusing people and violating their rights.

It's clear that it's time for Congress to step in and #ImpeachNoem https://bit.ly/4u3XdrL

Homeland Security Department is stonewalling watchdog investigations, GOP senator alleges Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said that he would procedurally obstruct the legislative process until officials respond to his questions about department oversight.

The Department of Homeland Security, which houses ICE, has been stonewalling the agency's federal watchdog in its attempts to conduct oversight.

This is yet another reason DHS Secretary Kristi Noem must go. #ImpeachNoem https://bit.ly/4b68YFA

Homeland Security Department is stonewalling watchdog investigations, GOP senator alleges Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said that he would procedurally obstruct the legislative process until officials respond to his questions about department oversight.

The Department of Homeland Security, which houses ICE, has been stonewalling the agency's federal watchdog in its attempts to conduct oversight.

This is yet another reason DHS Secretary Kristi Noem must go. #ImpeachNoem https://bit.ly/4b68YFA

Tell Congress: Impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Under Noem’s leadership, the Department of Homeland Security has committed widespread abuses of power. Congress must impeach her.

Under Kristi Noem’s leadership, DHS is systematically:

-conducting a campaign of violence within the United States
-undermining people’s constitutional rights
-violating court orders.

That’s why we’re calling on Congress to impeach her.

Tell Congress: Stop the Illegal War with Iran President Trump is waging an illegal war on Iran. Congress needs to stop him right now.

President Trump’s war with Iran is illegal. Congress has a constitutional duty to stop it. https://act.pogo.org/a/tell-congress-no-illegal-war-iran

When she took office, Secretary Noem took an oath to support and defend the Constitution.

Since then, we have seen her and the department she oversees consistently VIOLATE that very oath.

It's time for Congress to impeach her.

Tell Congress: Impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Under Noem’s leadership, the Department of Homeland Security has committed widespread abuses of power. Congress must impeach her.

DHS has a long history of accountability failures, but under Kristi Noem's leadership, it has become a massive threat to the public, assaulting people's constitutional rights & thwarting oversight.

Tell your member of Congress: it’s time to #ImpeachNoem.

Inside the Fight for Safe Military Housing Families battle to hold a Texas housing empire accountable.

"Even the DOD doesn’t appear to know which rules or laws apply in some cases."

A new collaborative investigation into a privatized military housing empire with @ziembavision.bsky.social from @pogo.org:

A picture of Secretary Kristi Noem sitting in front of a microphone, with text below it that says IMPEACH KRISTI NOEM

We’re calling for the impeachment of Kristi Noem.

Under her leadership, DHS has turned into the president’s personal police force.

Congress has to step in.

Among the many revelatory findings in this piece I hope you won't miss this one:

The maintenance backlog in military family housing is currently nearly $7 BILLION.

(The entire reason military housing was privatized in the first place was to eliminate the maintenance backlog.)

Inside the Fight for Safe Military Housing Military families battle to hold a Texas housing empire accountable

The wonky world of privatized military housing continues to prove endlessly fascinating.

Read the new deep dive investigation into a El Paso-based military housing empire and the Texas families fighting for justice, co-published with @texasobserver.org

www.pogo.org/investigates...

Inside the Fight for Safe Military Housing Families battle to hold a Texas housing empire accountable.

In the Texas lawsuits against Hunt Military Communities, all of the families reported issues with mold and health problems that they linked to substandard housing. 15 families reported losing or having to replace belongings, and 16 families dealt with rodent or insect infestations.

Inside the Fight for Safe Military Housing Military families battle to hold a Texas housing empire accountable

The Kline family submitted 78 maintenance requests in 17 months.

When Hunt Military Communities responded, the problem was often addressed after delays & inadequately, the Klines’ lawsuit says.

Read abt military families fighting to hold Hunt to account:

Tell Congress: No Illegal War With Iran Congress must pass a war powers resolution to prevent President Trump from launching another illegal attack on Iran.

The war in Iran is illegal, plain and simple.

Only Congress has the power to declare war — because it's too serious of a decision to be made by one person.

Tell your representatives now that they must support the resolution to end this war:

https://act.pogo.org/a/tell-congress-no-illegal-war-iran

This weekend, the Trump administration launched illegal strikes against Iran.

Congress has to jump into action RIGHT NOW and do everything in its authority stop this massive abuse of power.

Inside the Fight for Safe Military Housing Military families battle to hold a Texas housing empire accountable

Texas military families are fighting to hold Hunt Military Communities accountable, saying it is systematically under-maintaining homes & intentionally misleading families who live in them.

Read @ziembavision.bsky.social's latest, reported in partnership with @texasobserver.org:

The strikes on Iran today are yet another flagrant abuse of power by this administration.

Congress must prevent future unauthorized attacks.

Lawmakers can't give away their constitutional responsibility to an already runaway executive branch—not when stakes are this high.

Congress’s Insurrection Act Invocation To-Do List What Congress needs to demand if — or when — the president escalates domestic deployments.

While invocation of the Insurrection Act is not inevitable, Congress must prepare.

Here is what lawmakers need to demand if the president escalates domestic deployments.

Tell Congress: No Illegal War With Iran Congress must pass a war powers resolution to prevent President Trump from launching another illegal attack on Iran.

Once again, President Trump planning to launch a military operation without congressional approval.

We need you to raise your voice and tell your representatives to curtail the president’s ability to unilaterally wage war with Iran.

DHS Assault Cases Spiked to a Record High. Experts and Judges Have Raised Alarms. Federal data shows a surge in DHS alleging its agents have been assaulted or impeded. Although many cases have collapsed in court, some fear the risks to constitutional rights.

"Judges have cast doubt on the validity of some of the cases prosecuted among the wave of DHS’s Section 111 referrals, criticizing federal prosecutors’ approach to ushering them through the courts and the number of cases they’ve ultimately had to dismiss."

To sum it up, if ICE wanted people in detention to be able to report sexual abuse and assault that happens in detention, there is significant room for improvement in the hotline they are sending people to. / END

I got a tip yesterday that migrants in detention are having a hard time using ICE’s hotline to report sexual assaults happening within detention facilities. So I decided to call up the hotline myself.

Here’s what I learned. [THREAD]