Cost of Noem’s makeup and horse rental for her $143 million ad that led to her ouster are revealed

The taxpayer shelled out tens of thousands of dollars for Kristi Noem’s makeup and props in anti-immigration South Dakota ad, where she appeared on horseback in front of Mount Rushmore touting the Department of Homeland Security, financial disclosures revealed.

Noem is set to step down next week from her post as Homeland Security Secretary, largely due to the controversial ads, which she claimed were signed off by President Donald Trump.

The South Dakota ad was filmed over two days in October 2025 by Ohio-based firm The Strategy Group Company, whose CEO is Ben Yoho, the husband of Noem’s former spokesperson and assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

The company was subcontracted by MAGA firm Safe America Media, which was awarded the $143 million no-bid contract by the Department of Homeland Security in February 2025 to produce the ads. It was only incorporated a week before it was handed the contract.

In the ad in question, Noem donned a cowboy hat and chaps against the backdrop of Mount Rushmore, as she warned illegal migrants to stay away. “You cross the border illegally, we’ll find you. Break our laws, we’ll punish you. Harm American citizens, there will be consequences,” Noem said, while on horseback.

Invoices from The Strategy Group Company, submitted on the request of Democratic Senators Peter Welch of Vermont and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and reviewed by The Independent, show that the taxpayer footed the bill for nearly $4,000 worth of hair and makeup services for Noem, and more than $40,000 in other vendor costs, including $20,000 to a barrel racer, that included the cost of the horse rental.

The company also accrued $100,000 in labor costs and a $60,000 signing bonus to produce the ad, which it said was “standard.”

“This looks like waste, fraud, and abuse to me,” Welch said.

“This absurd waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer funds is completely unacceptable,” added Blumenthal.

In statements posted on its social media accounts, The Strategy Group Company hit back at critics and said it has “never” had a contract with Noem’s department.

“Safe America paid us $226,137.17 total for limited production services for 5 film shoots, 45 produced video advertisements and 6 produced radio advertisements,” the company said in a post on X. “The Strategy Group has never had a contract with DHS.”

Yoho also pushed back publicly against Welch and Blumenthal in a letter shared on X, and accused the lawmakers of mischaracterizing the spending on the ad.

In total, Noem’s advertising blitz at the department cost more than $200 million. She was fired by Trump after a humiliating grilling from lawmakers during congressional hearings earlier this month.

In front of the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month, Republican Senator John Kennedy said it was hard for him to believe that those kinds of deals would have been approved by Trump or the White House Office of Management and Budget.

“It troubles me,” he said. “A fifth to a quarter of a billion dollars in taxpayer money, when we’re scratching for every penny, and we’re fighting over recision packages … I just can’t agree with it.”

Noem said the ads were “effective.”

“They were effective in your name recognition,” Kennedy shot back.

After Noem’s testimony, Trump said he never approved the campaign before, announcing on Truth Social that she was leaving her role.

Last week, several Democratic lawmakers referred Noem to the Department of Justice for a perjury investigation, claiming that she “misled” Congress about the ads in a “brazen” bid to avoid accountability.

Noem’s replacement, Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, was confirmed by the Senate Monday and will take over the embattled department amid the ongoing shutdown.