DHS systematically obstructed its inspector general; Noem sought list of OIG probes to weigh ending

On March 3, 2026, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari informed Congress—in a letter dated March 2—that the Department of Homeland Security had been "systematically obstructing" the work of its Office of Inspector General. The letter cited at least 10 oversight matters in which DHS denied or delayed OIG access to records, databases, and classified systems, and described the revocation of the inspector general's long-standing access to several critical databases: BorderStat, TECS, Secure Flight, the Unified Immigration Portal, a security-clearance eligibility database, and a counterintelligence database tied to a national-security criminal investigation.

Cuffari further disclosed that Secretary Kristi Noem had recently requested a list of all pending OIG matters—including criminal matters—so that she could consider whether any audits, inspections, or investigations should be terminated. DHS General Counsel James Percival, who conveyed the request, said neither he nor Noem sought to halt any investigation and that the list was requested only so the Secretary could evaluate whether it might ever be appropriate to exercise such authority. The Inspector General Act requires agencies to give inspectors general unfettered access to records; a department systematically denying that access, paired with a Cabinet secretary soliciting a catalogue of open probes to weigh terminating them, strikes at independent oversight of the federal government's largest law-enforcement department.

The disclosure prompted Sen. Gary Peters, ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, to open an investigation into potential obstruction of the inspector general's oversight and communications to Congress, following a March 4 letter to the DHS General Counsel. Cuffari is himself a contested figure, but the documented access denials and the termination-review request are the conduct recorded here.