Noem on blaming Miller for terrorism claims

Senator Kennedy, you're next. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Madam Secretary, for being here. President Trump, ably assisted by Mr. Stephen Miller, quickly, in the president's second administration, developed policies to secure our southern border, policies that you and the Department of Homeland Security implemented. And I congratulate all of you on your success. Properly vetting people at the southern border is not racist, is it? No.

Could you answer for the record? No, it is not racist. Properly vetting people at the Southern border is a prudent, isn't it? Yes, sir, it is. And to do that, we need the Border Patrol, do we not?

Yes, we do. And we also need ICE, do we not?

Yes, we do. I just wanted to get my congratulations on the record. I believe you have a policy, Madam Secretary, that you have to approve all contracts at your department over $100 million? No, sir. I have a policy in place that I review contracts. My deputy chiefs have the ability to review anything under 5 million. Above that, I evaluate and look at. And you do that, I understand, to try to curb waste and abuse of taxpayer money, is that right? Yes, sir. In fact, it's been extremely effective. We've saved the taxpayers over $13.2 billion just by evaluating contracts, negotiating lower ones, and canceling ones that aren't necessary to do our duties. How do you square that concern for waste, which I share, with the fact that you have spent $220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently? Sir, the president tasked me with getting the message out to the country and to other countries where we were seeing the invasion come from with putting commercials out that told them that if they were in this country illegally, that they needed to leave, or we would detain them and remove them, and they'd not get the chance to come back to America the right way.

Did the president-- That has been extremely effective. --ask you to run these advertisements? Is that right? We had that conversation, yes, before I was put in this position and sworn in and confirmed and since then as well. Did you bid out those service contracts? Yes, they did. They went out to a competitive bid. And career officials at the department chose who would do those advertising commercials. And the people that you ended up picking were people who had formerly done your political work back in South Dakota, is that right? No, that's not correct, sir.

I think it is. No, it's not, sir. The individuals who-- I believe the careers, who they chose, were two different media firms. There's been conversation about their subcontractors, but we have no legal authority to look into subcontractors on work like that.

And you're saying that-- you're testifying that President Trump approved this ahead of time. Is that my understanding? We had conversations about making sure that we were telling people--

No, ma'am. I'm asking you-- sorry to interrupt. But the president approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently? Yes, sir. We went through the legal processes, did it correctly.

Did the president know you were going to do this? Yes.

He did? Yes. And one thing, Senator, I think would be helpful to know is how effective that communications has been, that overwhelmingly--

Effective in you name recognition. I mean, I personally just-- to me, it puts the president in a terribly awkward spot. And I'm not saying you're not telling the truth. It's just hard for me to believe, knowing the president as I do, that you said, Mr. President, here's some ads I've cut, and I'm going to spend $220 million running them, that he would have agreed to that. I don't think Russ Vought at OMB would have agreed to that. It's something we have to defend. I'm on the Appropriations Committee. My research shows that you did not bid them out, that in fact, one of the people you picked, the Strategy Group-- I'm sorry, Safe America Media, was a company formed 11 days before you picked them and that the Strategy Group got most of the money. And the head of that is married to your former spokesperson. Look, we all have friends who are qualified. I'm not quibbling with that. It troubles me. A fifth to a quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer money, when we're scratching for every penny and we're fighting over rescission packages, I just can't agree with, Madam Secretary. Are you still running those ads? Senator, I did not have anything to do with picking those contractors. No politicals at the Department of Homeland Security did.

I understand. Are you still running the ads? Officials followed the competitive bid process.

Are you still running those ads? I think the ads are due to end here in March, I think within a week. So I'm not sure of the end date. The one that is running is focusing on angel families. Have you seen that? It is the one that's talking about this is our why. This is why we work every day, is for the angel families and their victims that need to-- After the two killings in Minneapolis-- and I think there's a lot of video on them, Madam Secretary. I think people see the video and draw their own conclusions. Are you and your department conducting an investigation of those? Sir, the investigation is being led by the FBI. HSI was involved. In fact, our HSI agents on the ground--

I'm sorry to cut you off, but I got so little time. I believe at the time, you said these were acts of domestic terrorism. Is that right?

Sir, in answer to questions at the press conference that afternoon, it was that it appeared to be.

Yeah. But you said these appeared to be acts of domestic terrorism. And as I've said previously in this hearing, is that--

But first, Madam Secretary, did you say that? We're getting Information from a chaotic scene on the ground.

Did you say that? --and relaying information to the American people. Now, again, those videos are public. People can draw their own conclusions. I think it'd be safe to say, you got some pushback on that. Would that be fair?

Yes, sir. And you got some criticism. I'm not saying the criticism was accurate or inaccurate. I think you did. What got my attention was that you blamed those statements on Mr. Stephen Miller at the White House, did you not? No, sir, I did not. And in fact, where you're seeing that is in a news article of anonymous sources. And anonymous sources say a lot of things. But I have never said that at all. Well, here's what you said on the record. I'm going to read your words. Quote, "Everything I've done, I've done at the direction of the president and Stephen."

Yes, sir. Where did you see me say that at? You read that in a news article with no sources affiliated to it. You said it on the record, on January 27 of 2026. Did I read your words accurately? I enjoy working with the president and with Stephen Miller. And that day, we were working to get as much information to the American people as possible. That is what will continue to do. And as that happens, we'll go forward.

Do you think it was fair to blame Mr. Miller? Sir, I did not do that. You're reading from a newspaper article--

Yes, ma'am. --with anonymous sources. Are you denying that you said that? Sir, I'm not going to speak to that situation that is relayed on anonymous sources that no one has heard me say that.

It was you. Who reported that to that newspaper? They're quoting you on the record, saying it's Stephen's fault. [GAVEL BANGS] Thank you, Mr. Chairman.