ICYMI — Deputy Secretary Edgar: “How Kristi Noem’s Leadership Saved America: Righting the Fiscal Ship after Biden”

The Trump Administration puts the U.S. taxpayer first, and keeps them safe

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, The Washington Times published an op-ed by U.S. Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar, titled How Kristi Noem’s leadership saved America: Righting the fiscal ship after Biden.

The op-ed highlights how the Trump administration has cut waste, fraud, and abuse after President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spent four years putting the American people last and misspending money on frivolous causes or ideological agendas that do nothing to protect the American people.

Now, under Secretary Noem’s and Deputy Secretary Edgar’s leadership, DHS is fighting every day to ensure that every single penny entrusted to DHS is used to keep America safe from threats of every kind. As a result of that mindset shift, the Trump administration has saved taxpayers more than $13.2 billion at DHS thus far.

Did you know the Biden administration misspent at least $1 trillion on waste, fraud and abuse across the board? During that time, taxpayer dollars at the Department of Homeland Security were used to fund the invasion of our country, spent on frivolous contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars that did nothing to keep America safe.

When Secretary Kristi Noem took the helm of the Homeland Security Department, her mission was to change the culture to ensure that U.S. taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars would not be wasted on unnecessary spending, corrupt contracts and other financial rubbish. Her results have been remarkable thus far (almost $13 billion saved), and she has achieved them while preparing the department to effectively steward the monumental resources to support our mission of securing the homeland, thanks to President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

As chief financial officer of the Homeland Security Department during the first Trump administration, I entered my new role as homeland security deputy secretary in Trump 2.0 with an understanding of the department’s financial and operational needs. Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, we crafted a plan that ends frivolous spending while ensuring that not one penny is wasted in our efforts to secure the homeland. This culture change placed a new level of accountability on our department to ensure taxpayer dollars were spent properly, and it couldn’t come sooner for the American people.

Under President Biden, instances of fiscal abuse and government waste were rampant. One of the most egregious examples of this misspending was the administration’s use of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to fund luxury hotels for illegal aliens in New York City as Americans struggled to make ends meet. When Secretary Noem discovered that $59 million was about to be used for that purpose, she clawed back the money and fired the people responsible for it.

Secretary Noem took President Biden’s CBP One app — a smartphone application launched by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and used to expedite the entry of illegal aliens into the U.S. — and reverse-engineered it for self-deportation. (Previously, it rewarded those who broke our immigration laws by making their entry easier and faster.)

There are far too many other examples to list. Yet the Biden administration’s crises went far beyond fiscal abuse. Millions of the world’s worst criminals poured into our country on its watch. The U.S. Coast Guard was left depleted and neglected. Agencies such as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, U.S. Secret Service and FEMA strayed from their core missions.

To fix the myriad issues caused by President Biden, the Homeland Security Department has been forced to change the way we do business. This is a tough but necessary change, and we must look past the critique by career employees, industry and the media.

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Homeland Security Department has been entrusted with more than $191 billion. We understand that in return for your hard-earned money, we must adhere to the department’s mission and keep you safe.

To that end, $46 billion will be used to finish the wall so that our secured border can stay sealed and build upon four straight months of zero illegal alien releases into the country. At the same time, we are expediting hiring efforts to the tune of $8 billion for 10,000 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and employees. We have already received more than 200,000 applications for those jobs, which will enable us to achieve our goal of getting the worst of the worst out of our communities and the country.

The Coast Guard will receive $25 billion for aircraft, ships and support infrastructure that will enable it to protect our coasts, thwart bad actors on the open seas, and deter our enemies in the Arctic.

Under President Trump’s and Secretary Noem’s leadership, we have taken immediate action to address the misuse of funds, established controls and ensured accountability. We are introducing innovative solutions to some of America’s most challenging national security issues. As fiscal stewards of your resources, we are committed to delivering for the American people.

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