By Ted Hesson and David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is canceling most pending contracts initiated under ousted Secretary Kristi Noem, the current secretary said on Wednesday, a move that follows congressional scrutiny and an internal watchdog review of her contracting practices.
During a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, Secretary Markwayne Mullin faced questions from a top Democrat about what steps he had
taken to cancel Noem-era contracts.
The move is part of a broader effort by Mullin to unwind contracting practices under Noem that drew bipartisan criticism.
"We are looking at the contracts that weren't already signed, and we did go through and cancel most of those," Mullin said.
U.S. President Donald Trump fired Noem in March as public support for his immigration crackdown diminished and as lawmakers - including Republicans - aired concerns about large contracts awarded outside of standard contracting processes. In the days before she was fired, Noem was grilled by lawmakers over a $220 million advertising campaign that was awarded to Republican-connected firms.
Noem said at the time that it was awarded through a competitive process and that no political appointees were involved.
"All done correctly, all done legally," she said.
Noem is currently serving as a special envoy to the U.S. State Department's Shield of the Americas coalition to counter transnational crime. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mullin, confirmed to the job after Noem's ouster, said the department could not easily terminate already-finalized contracts. He said the department's internal watchdog, the Office of Inspector General, had multiple active investigations, but that he had not been briefed on the details.
Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar, testifying alongside Mullin, said he and Mullin met with the inspector general's office "and had discussions of any of the open contracts that are out there."
U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson, the committee's highest-ranking Democrat, told Edgar he needed to take action if there were problems with the contracts.
"If you know something is done wrong, then I think you are obligated to stop it," Thompson said.
In response to a request for comment, a DHS spokesperson said Mullin "re-evaluated the contract processes to make sure DHS is serving the American taxpayer efficiently."
(Reporting by Ted Hesson and David Shepardson; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
