Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is drawing backlash with her department's quiet push of a controversial plan to build a top-secret intelligence facility at a South Dakota university, according to insiders.
Multiple current and former officials familiar with the scheme told Politico that Noem's DHS pressured the nation's cyber defense agency CISA to back a "sensitive compartmented information facility" at Dakota State University despite a glaring problem — there's no legitimate national security reason for it.
"There is certainly no CISA mission that needs to share classified info with South Dakota more than any other state," one former agency official bluntly told the outlet.
The project, which could cost millions to build, raises eyebrows about whether Noem, who previously governed the state, was using her federal clout to boost her home state university's marketability for future government contracts. Having federal sponsorship is "like being pre-cleared to compete in a category most institutions never even get to enter," one national security expert noted.
Additionally, CISA staff reportedly felt pressured to justify the facility despite their concerns, with one source revealing they were explicitly told the project "must proceed because it is a 'Secretary-level priority.'"
South Dakota didn't make the cut in a 2024 DHS working group that assessed regional national security SCIF needs.
CISA insists the project aligns with Trump's executive order and serves remote regions, but critics called out the hypocrisy of the report, after Noem recently told Connecticut's governor DHS had "no federal funding" for SCIF projects.
One Democratic congressional aide delivered a blunt assessment.
"If Biden did this for a Delaware university, people would lose their minds."