Inside the $220 Million DHS Ad Campaign and the Firms That Profited
A controversial $220 million taxpayer-funded advertising campaign at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) generated over $23 million in commissions for two firms with deep ties to Republican political operatives, according to an internal DHS memo reviewed by POLITICO. The campaign, which featured Secretary Kristi Noem in a cowboy hat at Mount Rushmore, became a central issue leading to her ouster and sparked significant oversight concerns about political influence and contracting practices.
The Firms and Their Commissions
The two primary firms were Safe America Media and People Who Think. Safe America Media, formed just days before receiving its contract, collected at least $15.2 million. It was run by Republican operatives Mike McElwain and Patrick McCarthy, who have connections to a media buying firm that worked extensively on President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign. People Who Think, co-founded by Jay Connaughton—who has worked on past Trump campaigns and other conservative causes—received a minimum of $7.7 million, representing its 10 percent commission on a portion of the ad buys.
An internal DHS memo, dated March 3 and written by Deputy Under Secretary for Management Paul Stackhouse, noted the contracts were awarded through “limited competition” due to an “urgent and compelling need.” It also stated that the commissions—12 percent for Safe America Media on domestic advertising and 10 percent for People Who Think on international advertising—were below the industry norm of 15 percent. Despite being below the typical rate, the sheer scale of the $220 million campaign resulted in multi-million dollar payouts.
Political Ties and Campaign Connections
The web of connections extends beyond the firms’ leadership. Safe America Media placed some of its DHS ad buys through Strategic Media Services Inc. (SMS), a company that received more than $269 million from Trump’s 2024 campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records. Corporate registrations show SMS shared the same office address between 2013 and 2021 with Designated Market Media Inc., where McElwain is president.
Furthermore, a subcontractor on the production side, The Strategy Group, is run by Ben Yoho, the husband of Noem’s former top communications aide, Tricia McLaughlin. McLaughlin has stated she recused herself from the campaign, and DHS General Counsel James Percival has publicly supported her assertion that she was not involved in selecting subcontractors. Yoho’s firm was paid $226,000 for its production work, according to a letter he provided to senators.
Congressional Scrutiny and Noem’s Defense
The ad campaign faced intense bipartisan criticism during congressional hearings in early March. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Democrats in grilling Noem. Tillis threatened to halt Senate business over unrelated immigration enforcement data, while Kennedy derided the ads as primarily effective for boosting Noem’s name recognition. Noem defended the campaign, claiming it encouraged two million immigrants to “self-deport,” saving billions of dollars—a figure that has not been independently verified by DHS or outside analysts.
White House officials have stated that President Trump did not personally sign off on the ad campaign, which reportedly caused friction within the administration. The perception that Noem used the department for potential future political gain became a “sore spot,” according to POLITICO’s reporting.
Oversight Gaps and Ongoing Inquiries
The arrangement highlights how political operatives were awarded lucrative contracts with seemingly minimal oversight. The use of a “limited competition” process for such a large expenditure, justified by urgency, bypasses standard competitive bidding safeguards. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) of the Senate Homeland Security Committee have been probing the contracts. Their offices confirmed they have communicated with legal representatives for both Safe America Media and People Who Think but have not yet received substantive responses to their questions.
A lawyer for Safe America Media, Joseph Folio, provided a statement to POLITICO asserting the firm “committed substantial resources to meet an accelerated timeline on budget” and looked forward to “providing additional information to address inaccuracies.” The specific inaccuracies referenced were not detailed, and a follow-up question went unanswered. McElwain, McCarthy, and Connaughton did not respond to requests for comment, and People Who Think could not be reached. A DHS spokesperson declined to comment.
Context: Scale and Precedent
Beyond military recruiting and Covid-19 public health campaigns, the DHS ad buy stands as the most expensive U.S. government marketing effort in the past decade, according to Bloomberg. The combination of its unprecedented cost, the political backgrounds of the primary contractors, and the subcontractor links to the secretary’s inner circle creates a complex case study in federal procurement and political ethics. The ongoing congressional inquiries aim to determine whether proper procedures were followed and whether the campaign’s stated goals justified its extraordinary price tag and the commissions paid to politically aligned firms.
