**DHS IG Investigates Potential Violations in Senior Staff Reassignments Under Former Secretary Noem**
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General has launched a review into whether the department violated laws and regulations when it compelled senior staff to accept new roles during the tenure of former Secretary Kristi Noem. The investigation, announced in July 2026, focuses on senior executive service reassignments that occurred between January 2025 and March 2026, a period that aligns with Noem’s time leading the agency before being replaced by Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
The review will examine whether these reassignments—some of which were described as “management directed reassignments” (MDRs)—were conducted in accordance with federal laws, regulations, and policies. According to the inspector general’s notice, fieldwork is set to begin shortly.
These reassignments have drawn attention after reports that hundreds of DHS employees, including cybersecurity and disaster response staff, were moved to positions that were outside their area of expertise, often with short notice and to locations hundreds of miles from their previous duty stations. Some of these moves coincided with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda, prompting concerns from lawmakers about whether the reshuffling was used to push a specific policy objective.
Democratic Representative Greg Stanton of Arizona, the ranking member of a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee, has launched an investigation into mandatory reassignments at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and has also asked the DHS IG to look into staffing cuts and forced moves within the agency. Similar concerns have been raised about the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, where the former acting director reportedly used MDRs to push out senior officials earlier this year.
Data from the Office of Personnel Management shows a sharp decline in the number of career senior executive service staff at DHS, dropping from 723 in January 2025 to 513 by March 2026. While it is not yet clear how many employees were affected by the MDRs, legal experts and former officials suggest many of the reassignments may have been improper.
Erik Snyder, counsel with Gilbert Employment Law, said he has represented DHS staff who claim the moves were either retaliation for reporting misconduct or for refusing to carry out illegal orders. He noted that many of these employees found themselves in cities with no real job to perform after accepting the transfers.
Since Mullin took over the department, many of the MDRs have been rescinded, and there appears to be internal acknowledgment that some of the moves were不当, Snyder said. Civil service rules give agencies broad authority to reassign employees, but they must do so for legitimate organizational reasons and cannot use the process to punish staff.
Dan Meyer, a partner at Tully Rinckey, said the timing of the reassignments will likely be a key focus of the inspector general’s review, especially given the influx of new political appointees after Noem’s arrival at DHS. “There are clever ways of using this process to get back at people who are not towing the line,” Meyer said. “But I think the timing issues will be looked at most closely by the IG.”
The investigation is expected to determine whether the reassignments served a valid organizational purpose or were instead used as a means of retaliation against officials who raised concerns or refused to follow orders.
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**Original Article:**
“DHS IG investigating whether Noem forced senior staff into new roles to support immigration crackdown,” *Federal News Network*, November 20, 2025. [https://federalnewsnetwork.com](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/2025/11/homeland-security-holiday-threat-28873/)
