The Department of Homeland Security is getting rid of a policy put in place by Kristi “ICE Barbie” Noem requiring her to personally sign off on all contracts and grants over $100,000.
In a statement to CBS News, the DHS said Noem’s replacement as Homeland Security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, has “re-evaluated the contract processes” to ensure the department is “serving the American taxpayer efficiently.”
Noem’s insistence on signing off on DHS contracts exceeding $100,000—a tiny amount for a department that has 260,000 employees and an annual budget of over $170 billion—was condemned for adding an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy and delaying vital relief work.
The announcement is another humiliating blow to Noem after her husband’s fetish for wearing comically large fake breasts and tight tops while speaking to “bimbofication” models online was exposed by the Daily Mail.
The photos of Bryon Noem emerged just weeks after Donald Trump unceremoniously fired Noem from her role leading DHS following intense criticism of her performance and the ongoing saga surrounding her alleged affair with her top aide, Corey Lewandowski.
As noted by CBS News, Mullin hinted he would want to scrap the $100,000 sign-off policy during his Senate confirmation hearing last month.
“I’m not a micromanager,” Mullin said when asked about the policy. “We put people in, we empower them to make decisions. What is required to come up to my level, we’ll make decisions.”
“We will have a very clear line of communication with every one of our agencies’ heads on their authority that you gave to them within their parameters, and we’ll discuss,” Mullin added, “but we’re also going to be very responsible for taxpayer dollars.”
Noem’s requirement for her personal approval of any contract above $100,000 was blamed for a three-day delay in deploying Urban Search and Rescue teams to assist with the disaster response in areas of Texas devastated by flash flooding in July 2025, which left around 135 people dead. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, is part of DHS.
Politico reported last August that Lewandowski—who was effectively Noem’s de facto chief of staff at DHS as the pair allegedly carried on their affair—had also inserted himself into the grant approval process, creating an additional red-tape bottleneck.
Elsewhere, Bryon Noem, who has been married to Noem for the past 34 years, said he will reveal more about his personal life after his “bimbofication” kink was exposed.
“I will at some point. Today is not the day,” he told The New York Times.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Homeland Security and Kristi Noem for comment.
