Weekly Spotlight: Good Riddance!

Editor’s Note: There will be no Weekly Spotlight next week. We will be back in your inbox on March 21. In the meantime, follow us on social media for updates. (Facebook, X, Bluesky, Instagram)

ABUSING POWER AND RIGHTS

Good riddance!

Following a damning hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee where she faced bipartisan ire — and where your senators pressed the (then-)Homeland Security secretary on POGO’s investigative findings — Kristi Noem was fired by President Donald Trump himself. As POGO's David Janovsky writes in a statement, this is proof that public pressure works. Still, while Noem may be leaving, the Department of Homeland Security’s serious and widespread accountability failures remain. This is only the first step in reining in the out-of-control agency. The next step must be to ensure Noem’s replacement does not commit the same abuses. Any leader of the DHS must put public safety and the rule of law above all else. We’re watching closely to ensure Congress properly vets her proposed replacement, Senator Markwayne Mullin.

• STATEMENT Noem’s Ousting Proves that Public Pressure, Calls for Accountability Work
• In case you missed it, our case for Noem’s removal.
• A day before her ousting, DHS Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari accused Noem and other DHS leadership of “systematically obstructing” his office’s work. We will not let this accusation get lost in the transition to a new DHS secretary.
• INVESTIGATION $99,999 DHS Contracts Balloon Under Kristi Noem’s Directive: Noem requiring her sign-off on spending above $100,000 reportedly created backlogs of DHS contract awards. Some awards appeared to skirt her review. These findings were raised in the Senate hearing on Tuesday.

Psst — You made that happen

Thousands of POGO supporters joined the bipartisan calls for Noem’s removal this week. You proved that sustained public pressure works. But the problems at DHS go far beyond just Noem, and we must stay firm in our calls for accountability from this rogue agency. Donate today to help us keep the pressure up. Together, we can protect our communities, our rights, and our Constitution.

EXECUTIVE POWER GRAB

The ballooning costs of the Iran war

The illegal war started by our executive branch in Iran is rapidly spreading and escalating — and the costs are ballooning. POGO’s defense experts estimate that within the first four days, the U.S. spent close to $630.6 million on Tomahawk missiles alone, and that is a conservative estimate. To make matters worse: Munition stockpiles were already low before the start of Operation Epic Fury. Dwindling stockpiles may push the White House to invoke the Defense Production Act, forcing the defense industry to ramp up production for resupply and exploding costs. The safety of our country and our service members could soon rest on a defense industry that has proven itself incapable of operating quickly or at such a large scale.

• Both chambers in Congress failed to pass a war powers resolution to halt military action in Iran. The failure of your representatives in Washington, DC to check the executive branch is enabling gross abuses of power.
• Less than a week into the conflict, the White House is already floating a request of $50 billion in supplemental funding. It is unacceptable that the Pentagon, with its near-trillion dollar annual budget, should receive even one more dollar to fuel an illegal war. POGO is demanding that Congress deny any additional funding requests. The power of the purse is a crucial lever at Congress’s disposal for reining in executive overreach.
• Dig deeper: The incredible, sobering cost difference between American defense systems and the Iranian drones they are fighting.
• The civilian death toll in Iran is climbing.

Elsewhere at the Pentagon

• The U.S. quietly entered a military operation against what the Pentagon is calling "designated terrorist organizations" in Ecuador, in a seeming expansion of the administration’s purported anti-narcotics efforts in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The Trump administration has yet to meaningfully answer for the illegal boat strikes. Congress must learn from this escalation: Failing to check this overreaching executive branch will only enable more and worse abuses.
• Even with Anthropic’s AI platform Claude playing a central role in the war in Iran, the Pentagon made the extraordinary, unprecedented move to designate it a supply chain risk. Anthropic and the Pentagon spent the past few weeks in a bitter feud over the Pentagon’s refusal to accept Anthropic’s guardrails on the use of its AI platform — specifically, rules that prevented the use of Claude for domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon is quite clearly abusing its power to punish a company for having safety standards and values.

POGO INVESTIGATES

Inside the Fight for Safe Military Housing

Military families battle to hold a Texas housing empire accountable.

Read the new investigation on pogo.org/investigates.