Newly installed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is moving to unwind one of former Secretary Kristi Noem's most criticized management controls.
Internal department documents indicate U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement staff were told top-level approval would now be required only for contracts of $25 million or more, not $100,000, a shift that could ease a contracting bottleneck inside DHS while the department remains partly unfunded.
The practical significance is administrative, not ideological.
Mullin signaled at his confirmation hearing that he intended to scrap Noem's rule requiring secretarial approval for spending above $100,000, calling that approach excessive red tape.
Coverage from Government Executive and The Washington Post reported that critics tied the rule to delays in disaster-related contracting and other departmental business.
The Post also reported that ICE has slowed some contract work on plans to convert warehouses into large detention sites while proposals are revised.
The warehouse strategy is part of a much larger detention buildout.
Reuters reported in February that ICE planned to spend $38.3 billion this year on detention centers, and The Associated Press later reported the agency had already bought at least seven warehouses in five states.
Internal memos also indicate ICE is slowing the process of turning warehouses into large-scale detention centers.
The agency recently spent about $1 billion to buy 11 warehouses and had planned to open the first facility in April, following the issuance of initial retrofit contracts in Arizona and Maryland earlier this month.
The latest memo calls for revising proposals and gathering stakeholder feedback before awarding more contracts.
All such projects will require Mullin's personal sign-off because of their size.
In Maryland, Attorney General Anthony Brown said a federal judge had already paused work at one such warehouse near Williamsport while that case proceeds.
Mullin's early moves do not suggest a break with President Donald Trump's immigration agenda, as he is expected to continue Trump's hard line approach.
Trump fired Noem on March 5 after controversies over the administration's immigration enforcement tactics and scrutiny of a $220 million "vanity" ad campaign.
Noem has since moved into a reduced envoy role tied to the State Department.
The department has been operating under a partial shutdown for more than a month due to a Democrat funding block.
Mullin has said ending the shutdown and restoring pay for more than 100,000 affected workers is his top priority.
No official announcement of the contract changes has been issued.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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