Overview
- President Trump signed a memo Friday directing DHS to use funds with a “reasonable and logical nexus” to pay every employee who missed paychecks during the partial shutdown.
- New DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Wednesday scrapped Kristi Noem’s rule that forced the secretary to sign off on contracts above $100,000 and set a new $25 million review threshold handled at the deputy secretary or secretary level.
- DHS leaders are pausing or reevaluating several Noem-era initiatives, including plans to convert large warehouses into immigration detention sites, and local meetings tied to those projects have been put on hold.
- The Senate on Thursday sent the House a bill to fund most of DHS but exclude Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Protection, and House Republicans are weighing a two-track plan that would seek ICE and Border Patrol funding later through reconciliation under a June 1 target set by the president.
- Lawmakers and investigators had tied Noem’s approval rule to disaster-response slowdowns, with Senate Democratic staff counting 1,034 FEMA contracts, grants, or awards delayed or pending as of September 8, 2025, which held up housing inspections and aid.