DHS cancels policy requiring secretary to review contracts over $100,000

By Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) – U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Wednesday rescinded a policy requiring the secretary to approve contracts over $100,000, the Department of Homeland Security said.

The news followed a re-evaluation of the department’s contract process, DHS said, while adding that Mullin wanted to make sure the department is serving American taxpayers efficiently.

Mullin’s cancellation of the policy came less than a week after he was sworn in to succeed former DHS chief Kristi Noem.

Congressional Democrats, who welcomed the decision, had written to Noem earlier this month, asking that she cancel the policy they said had “resulted in widespread delays in funding and mismanagement.”

“Today, the Secretary rescinded the $100,000 contract review memo,” the department said. “This will streamline the contract process and empower components to carry out their mission to protect the homeland and make America safe again.”

Contracts worth more than $25 million would still need to be reviewed by the secretary, CBS News reported on Wednesday, citing a homeland security official. Reuters was not able to independently confirm this reporting.

“To ensure that DHS effectively performs its critical national security functions on behalf of the American people, we call on DHS to rescind the $100,000 approval policy and return to the prior approval threshold, given the clear risk of mismanagement, confusion, and self-dealing,” Democrats wrote in the March 18 letter.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward in WashingtonEditing by Shri Navaratnam)