DHS watchdog tells Congress Noem is blocking 11 investigations

"On March 4, 2026, DHS Inspector General JCJoseph Cuffari sent letter to Congress that was unusual in its candor: he listed 11 specific instances in which DHS had blocked his office from accessing witnesses, documents, or ongoing investigations, and stated that in each case, his office had not been told why access was being denied. Timing was not coincidental. Cuffari sent letter day after Noem testified before both Senate and House Judiciary Committees, while she was simultaneously defending DHS operations from different angle. His letter landed in senators hands while she was still on Hill. Sen. TTThom Tillis (R-NC), who had already been publicly demanding accountability on Noem OIG obstruction since January, held up letter during Senate Judiciary hearing and told Noem directly: This failure of leadership is grounds for resignation. He had already threatened to hold all DHS nominees unless obstruction ended."

"The 11 obstructions covered unusually broad range. Among blocked investigations were Minneapolis killings of RGRenee Good and APAlex Pretti, two U.S. citizens killed during Operation Metro Surge in January 2026, as well as earlier CBP and ICE use-of-force cases, contracting irregularities, and personnel matters. None of 11 investigations had been formally closed. None had produced criminal referral. Pattern Cuffari documented was systematic: not sporadic instances of bureaucratic friction, but consistent practice of denying access across multiple offices and multiple subject matters. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who had spent decades defending inspector general independence across administrations, joined Tillis in raising obstruction issue, signal that accountability concern had broken through administration partisan shield."

"IGInspector General Reform Act of 2008 explicitly prohibits executive branch officials from interfering with IG access to witnesses, documents, and records. Violations are subject to referral to DOJ for potential criminal prosecution. DOJ under Pam Bondi, Trump appointee who had not publicly commented on Cuffari letter, would be agency deciding whether to pursue charges against DHS officials who blocked OIG. That structural loop, DOJ deciding whether to prosecute officials in agency overseen by cabinet secretary president appointed, captures accountability gap at center of Trump second term governance model. Trump had fired 17 inspectors general in January 2025, within hours of his inauguration, in mass removal that courts were still evaluating. Cuffari survived that purge, making his letter to Congress act of institutional self-defense as much as oversight."

"Noem was fired on March 5, one day after Cuffari letter. Administration officials cited Cuffari obstruction as one element of culmination of many failures. After her departure, congressional sources reported that 11 blocked investigations had resumed access. No one had been disciplined. No criminal referral had been made. DHS spokesperson did not respond to NPR request to confirm resumption. Minneapolis families, who had waited since January for any formal accountability, received no public update on where investigations now stood or when findings might be expected."