In Just 3 Weeks, Secretary Noem Saves the American Taxpayer Over $30 Million

Secretary Noem’s work to cut government waste, fraud, and abuse saved the American taxpayer $1 million per day in just 3 weeks

WASHINGTON – Since August 22, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has cancelled multiple frivolous and unnecessary government contracts and grants, saving the American taxpayer more than $30 million dollars.

The $31,692,166 million savings in this short amount of time is the result of de-obligated contracts and grants, and it reflect the whole-of-government effort ordered by President Trump to cut down on waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government.

Secretary Noem has worked from day one to systematically slash the size of government and eliminate wasteful spending at the Department of Homeland Security — saving taxpayers more than $12 billion in her first 200 days. Most importantly, she accomplished all of it while ramping up law enforcement, border security, and immigration enforcement operations.

“In just three weeks, Secretary Noem has saved the taxpayer more than $30 million. That’s more than $1 million per DAY,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, it is no longer open season on the American taxpayer at DHS. The Trump administration is draining the swamp, restoring accountability to the federal government, and putting hardworking Americans FIRST again.”

Secretary Noem personally reviews and approves all DHS contracts over $100,000. This policy has saved U.S. taxpayers roughly $50 million every day since she took office on January 25, 2025. Despite constant criticism of this policy from the media and D.C. bureaucrats, results like these speak for themselves.

These savings figures don’t even include the additional savings from DHS's immigration enforcement efforts since President Trump resumed office.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates the net cost of illegal immigration at the federal, state, and local levels was at least $150.7 billion annually as of early 2023. This translates to an average cost of $8,776 per illegal immigrant or U.S.-born child of illegal immigrants per year. An estimated decrease of 1.6 million illegal aliens in the country has resulted in an additional $14 billion in cost savings per year.

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