Corey Lewandowski, a troublemaking off-and-on aide to Donald Trump, has gradually gained a staggering level of power at the Department of Homeland Security.
While Lewandowski is on paper as a special governmental employee and limited to working 130 days a year, staff at the DHS told CNN that he is acting as a gatekeeper to Secretary Kristi Noem and holds tight control over personnel.
“He’s the de facto chief of staff in the department. Everyone is terrified of him because he has almost singular authority to fire people,” one insider told the outlet.
Lewandowski has placed multiple staff on administrative leave—in one case, for including pronouns in an email, according to CNN.
He has effectively been Noem’s No. 2, often overruling Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar, sources told CNN. They said that he demonstrates his power by writing “Denied” or “No” in black sharpie on proposals he rejects.
“If you’re not getting through Corey, it’s not getting done,” an insider told CNN. “Noem gives the final thumbs up on the calls, but Corey drives the conversations and the narrative.”
Lewandowski, who accompanies Noem on travel and is often at her side, acts as her enforcer within the agency, keeping those underneath the secretary in line, sources told CNN.
“He’s the hammer and you’re the nail,” one DHS official said. “He’s the guy that’s going to hold you accountable.”
Lewandowski has long been a controversial figure—even to members of Trump’s inner circle.
During Trump’s 2016 presidential bid, Lewandowski served as campaign manager until he was fired for contributing to turmoil within the campaign.
Nevertheless, Lewandowski was given a role as a senior adviser on Trump’s 2024 campaign—that is, until his clashes with other Trump staff got him sidelined.
Rather than being rewarded with a top White House position like other campaign aides, Lewandowski was handed what was—at least on paper—a limited advisory role at DHS.
Lewandowski, who has provided counsel to Noem dating back to her days as South Dakota’s governor, had sought to be her chief of staff, but the request was vetoed because of concerns about the “optics,” The Atlantic reported in February.
The problem was that the pair, both of whom are married, have for years been dogged by rumors of an affair.
The allegation was first reported by the conservative news site American Greatness in 2021. Two years later, the Daily Mail and the New York Post offered further reporting that the two were allegedly having an affair.
Noem and Lewandowski have both denied the allegation. A spokesperson for DHS said the department “doesn’t waste time with salacious, baseless gossip” in a statement to The Wall Street Journal in April.
Now, in a powerful role by Noem’s side, Lewandowski is reportedly calling shots at the DHS—and ruffling feathers.
“Everything he’s doing is to increase [Noem’s] profile,” a DHS insider told CNN of Lewandowski.
Much of his energy has been focused on taking apart the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which the Trump administration had strenuously criticized on the campaign trail.
Lewandowski’s mission brought him into conflict with Trump’s first acting administrator of FEMA, Cameron Hamilton, who behind closed doors had begun to argue that FEMA should not be shuttered.
During the spat, Lewandowski repeatedly tore into Hamilton in front of staff, saying that he had lost sight of the Trump administration’s mission, CNN reported.
Hamilton was fired in May, a day after he broke with the administration and told lawmakers he did not agree with the administration’s plan to dismantle FEMA.
While the White House has said that he was fired for publicly contradicting the administration’s goals, insiders told CNN that his ouster was being orchestrated by Lewandowski weeks before it happened.
CNN also reported that Lewandowski successfully pushed to replace Hamilton with an ally of his, David Richardson. A senior DHS official, speaking on behalf of the agency, told CNN that this was “categorically false.”
The senior official described Lewandowski as an “adviser,” and said that “multiple staff have the ability to provide recommendations and input” but that it is Noem “who has the final decision.”
Asked for comment, the White House directed the Daily Beast to a statement provided to CNN.
In the statement, spokesperson Abigail Jackson described Lewandowski as “one of President Trump’s longest and most trusted advisers.”
“The tremendous results coming from the Department of Homeland Security—a historically secure border, safer American communities, and successful deportations of criminal illegal aliens—speak for themselves,” she said.
The Daily Beast has also contacted DHS for comment.
