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The Department of Homeland Security is canceling most pending contracts started under ousted Secretary Kristi Noem, the agency’s new leader told Congress.

Getting into it: Testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, Secretary Markwayne Mullin said his office reviewed contracts that hadn’t yet been signed and “did go through and cancel most of those,” while also rescinding Noem’s policy requiring her to personally sign off on any contract or grant over $100,000. DHS said the reversal would “streamline the contract process and empower components to carry out their mission,” with contracts over $25 million still subject to the secretary’s review. Mullin noted he couldn’t void deals that had already been finalized unless the inspector general determined they were signed under false circumstances.

This move follows a turbulent stretch at the department that resulted in Trump firing Noem in March amid bipartisan concern, including from Republicans, over big-ticket contracts handed out without going through normal bidding. The inspector general now has north of $9 billion worth of Noem-era deals under review. On her way out, Noem had taken heat for running a roughly $220 million ad blitz, some of it starring her, and steering the money toward firms with Republican ties; she insisted the contracts went through a fair, competitive process with no political hires in the mix.

Democrats pressed Mullin to go further in his review, with Representative Bennie Thompson, the panel’s top Democrat, pointing to warehouses he said were bought for “two [or] three times their appraised value” and the ad campaign showing Noem “riding horses,” calling it “grifting” that diverted money “that could go on the core mission of the agency.”

Mullin also pushed back on selling two Gulfstream jets and a Boeing 737 picked up on Noem’s watch, citing his need for secure communications. He rejected Democratic claims that Trump’s immigration agenda was driven by racism, calling that “a reckless term” and insisting agents are simply “enforcing the law that Congress passed.”