During Noem's appearance before Congress on Tuesday, Senator John Kennedy, among other lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle, pressed Noem about the department's spending of taxpayer dollars, including a $220 million ad contract. The ads, which Noem said were intended to encourage undocumented immigrants to leave the US, included footage of the now-former secretary riding a horse in front of Mount Rushmore while delivering stern messages about border enforcement.
On CNN's The Arena With Kasie Hunt, conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg took the first at-bat reacting to the report. Goldberg called it weird politics and submitted that it shows you what a different time we're in that this is even being considered, especially given the ongoing government shutdown and other corruption allegations against Trump. Then the Times Lulu Garcia-Navarro noted that the cash Trump was seeking was taxpayer money that would be going into the president's pocketbook.