Newsom calls outgoing Homeland Security secretary 'Kosplay Kristi,' demands agency release $500M

Source: Politico

03/06/2026 11:29 PM EST


With the ouster of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling on the emergency officials to release aid for Los Angeles wildfire recovery. Newsom alleged Friday that Noem has not signed contracts to advance more than $500 million in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for Los Angeles wildfire recovery. He also said that DHS should redirect to fire survivors any unspent dollars from a $220-million contract for a publicly funded ad campaign that featured Noem on horseback.

“Families in Los Angeles shouldn’t have to wait while she and Donald Trump play politics,” Newsom said in a statement. “Release the funding now and redirect those dollars to help communities rebuild.” Newsom poked the outgoing DHS secretary, calling Noem “Kosplay Kristi” and including with the statement a still photo of her riding a horse from what the governor said was a “taxpayer-funded vanity campaign.”

Under Noem, DHS implemented a policy that required her sign off for contracts over $100,000, a move that’s been widely panned by critics as delaying payouts for disaster recovery. Noem had defended the move as an accountability measure.

Newsom said that the policy has blocked existing FEMA funding to repair roads, rebuild schools and help prevent future disasters in Los Angeles. These dollars, he said, have already been approved unlike the state’s $33.9-billion request in long-term recovery funding that’s stalled in Congress.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/06/newsom-calls-outgoing-homeland-security-secretary-kosplay-kristi-demands-agency-release-500m-in-stalled-wildfire-funding-00817859