Despite the fact that President Donald Trump refuses to make the position official, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is getting to keep her de facto chief of staff for another year.
Meanwhile, Corey Lewandowski has become the second-most powerful person in the Department of Homeland Security – second only to Noem herself. This position is despite him being deemed an unpaid special government employee, only allowed to work some 130 days in a calendar year.
Moreover, Lewandowski was accused in 2025 of undercounting his working hours, which has led to the White House keeping an eye on his work schedule. According to Axios, he has been in that role throughout 2025, and has already been rehired for 2026.
Noem, 54, and Lewandowski, 52, are both married to other people, Noem to Bryon Noem, and Lewandowski to Alison Lewandowski. However, rumors are that they are having an affair, which is reportedly the “worst-kept secret” in Washington DC.
While both parties deny any romantic involvement, the rumors are so strong that Trump tried to stop Lewandowski from serving as her official chief of staff. Despite Trump’s wishes, Lewandowski is rarely away from Kristi Noem’s presence, making for a huge amount of power in the DHS.
Why are we paying for Eva Braun to stay in a Coast Guard Mansion beside the Potomac River, fly private jets all over the planet to ride horses and for the married Nazi to conduct her affair with married Corey Lewandowski in the public eye? Shameful. pic.twitter.com/0dfkJiyqPx
— TheRealThelmaJohnson (@TheRealThelmaJ1) December 12, 2025
According to several reports, Lewandowski travels with Kristi Noem to meet world leaders, advises her on personnel decisions, participates in high-level policy meetings, reviewing contracts, arranging contractor meetings and scheduling Noem’s meetings with DHS officials and lobbyists.
“Kristi is the face of DHS. Corey is the brains. He gets things done,” a senior administration official told Axios.
An Axios reporter last week saw Lewandowski at a gate in Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. There, he was reportedly discussing DHS vendor contracts loudly over his phone. Meanwhile, he was overheard to specifically mention data company Palantir, along with a drone program.
According to a DHS spokesperson, Palantir has had a contract with the US government for 14 years. However, Lewandowski has never worked with the company and reportedly was not involved in the government’s contract with that company.
The Wall Street Journal reported last year that he had arranged for Noem to meet with Palantir and told DHS officials to give the company extra work. Weeks later, this led to DHS updating their existing contract to give Palantir an additional $29.9 million.
Meanwhile, as a special government employee, the chief of staff is allowed to maintain all his private business interests, without having to file a public financial disclosure form. However, According to Axios, Lewandowski is still subject to federal conflict of interest laws, but refuses to state how he makes money. Meanwhile, he also stays close to President Trump, having managed his presidential campaign for part of the 2016 election cycle. He then went on to serve as an adviser to the Trump 2024 team.
A senior government official told Axios, “No one can really control Corey.” Not even Kristi Noem, it seems.
