DHS cuts Palantir's $2.7B deal to $1B with no explanation

In February 2026, the Department of Homeland Security signed a $1 billion blanket purchase agreement with Palantir Technologies, cut from the $2.7 billion agreement the two sides had negotiated in fall 2025 for a wide range of work including an immigration and Secret Service portfolio, according to The Wall Street Journal. DHS officials had wanted the deal signed before September 30, the end of the fiscal year, but it sat on Secretary Kristi Noem's desk for weeks without a signature, and Palantir could not get answers on why. Under Noem, essentially all department spending over $100,000 required the secretary's approval, a change widely seen in the administration as giving her top adviser, Corey Lewandowski, power to decide which companies received contracts. In November 2025, DHS officials repeatedly asked Palantir to schedule a one-on-one meeting between Lewandowski and chief executive Alex Karp, with no agenda. Palantir, which considered the terms settled and had negotiated through standard procurement procedures, set up the meeting and then canceled it because executives were uncomfortable with the circumstances given the contract at stake. Lewandowski told associates he would consolidate Palantir's work across the department so the company would receive less money. In early 2026, at a meeting with Lewandowski, Noem, Karp and other Palantir officials, the company was told the agreement would be revised to $1 billion; it was signed in February. Palantir said it was given no explanation for the reduction. The Journal also reported that Lewandowski, while at DHS, pitched Qatari and UAE officials to hire him privately, offering help with department matters such as visas, and that both declined. Lewandowski's representative said he played no role in contract review or approval and denied seeking business from foreign governments. DHS and Noem's spokesperson did not respond.