Trump Administration Faces Lawsuit for How It Awards Border Wall Contracts — ProPublica

A new lawsuit alleges the Trump administration awarded the bulk of new Texas border wall contracts to two firms without “genuine competitive opportunities.” One of the chosen firms has faced legal issues and claims of shoddy construction work...

 https://bigbendsentinel.com/2026/05/21/the-trump-administration-is-facing-scrutiny-for-how-its-handing-out-billion-dollar-border-wall-contracts/

 

Workers racing to turn reflecting pool blue for Trump may be at risk, union warns

Other companies that do similar work have expressed indignation over being denied the chance to compete for the contract, according to Herbert Zaldivar, the business development director of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, who has visited the site as an observer. 

Now the award is threatening to boomerang amid disclosures that Trump drastically understated the contract’s cost, and reports that officials at the Department of the Interior – which has responsibility for the site – are dissatisfied with the company’s work… 

Meanwhile, the contract’s true cost – which Trump initially told journalists would be $1.8m – has been revealed to be $13.1m…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/17/trump-washington-dc-reflecting-pool

 

Senators Demand Probe of Noem-Linked Firm’s Secret Work on DHS Ad Campaign — ProPublica

The demands for an investigation come after a ProPublica story revealed that the Noem-connected Strategy Group was secretly a subcontractor on the ad campaign...

https://www.propublica.org/article/kristi-noem-dhs-strategy-group-senate-probe 

 

Kristi Noem-Tied Firm Secretly Got Piece of $220 Million DHS Campaign — ProPublica

The company is run by the husband of Noem's chief DHS spokesperson and has personal and business ties to Noem and her aides. DHS invoked the "emergency" at the border to skirt competitive bidding rules for the taxpayer-funded campaign…

https://www.propublica.org/article/kristi-noem-dhs-ad-campaign-strategy-group