• The Wall Street Journal reported that Noem and Lewandowski fired or demoted roughly 80% of career ICE field leadership since taking over the department
• The White House Counsel’s Office opened an inquiry into Lewandowski’s potential abuse of his special government employee designation, though no action was taken
• Multiple senior administration officials described DHS as the biggest headache of Trump’s second term, with the president himself entertaining calls to remove the pair

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — A sweeping Wall Street Journal investigation published Thursday painted a portrait of institutional dysfunction inside the Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Kristi Noem and senior adviser Corey Lewandowski, alleging retaliatory firings, ethics violations, contracting irregularities and a personal rivalry with border czar Tom Homan — all while a DHS spokesperson called the secretary’s tenure “a roaring success.”

The report landed like a bombshell across political Washington, drawing condemnation from conservatives and liberals alike and raising questions about whether the nation’s largest law enforcement agency is being managed to advance policy — or personal ambition.

WSJ Investigation Alleges Pattern of Retaliation

The Journal’s investigation, authored by reporters Michelle Hackman, Josh Dawsey and Tarini Parti, cited dozens of current and former officials across DHS, the White House, the Department of Justice and other agencies.

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Among the most striking allegations: Noem and Lewandowski have fired or demoted roughly 80% of the career ICE field leadership in place when they arrived — and those who pushed back on their authority often paid the steepest price.

In one episode, Lewandowski allegedly fired a U.S. Coast Guard pilot after Noem’s blanket was not transferred to a replacement aircraft following a maintenance issue. The pilot was told to fly commercial. He was then reinstated — because no one else was available to fly Noem and Lewandowski home.

“The secretary has made personnel decisions to deliver excellence.”

A DHS spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal without directly addressing the blanket incident.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE THE DUPREE REPORT

The Journal also reported that Lewandowski sought a federally issued law enforcement badge and gun despite not having completed the required training. When Tom Feeley, a former top ICE official in New York being considered for the director position, declined to issue them, he was passed over for the job. ICE lawyer Ken Padilla also refused to sign off and was subsequently placed on administrative leave before being demoted to FEMA. Lewandowski eventually obtained the badge and gun after other attorneys approved the request, with the ICE director’s autopen used to sign the paperwork.

A DHS spokesperson denied Lewandowski made such efforts or spoke with Feeley, and said Padilla was placed on leave for unrelated reasons.

Noem DHS Ethics Inquiry and Contract Concerns

The report raised serious questions about Lewandowski’s dual role as a special government employee and private sector businessman. The SGE designation caps government service at 130 days per year without requiring officials to disclose their outside business interests.

According to the Journal, the White House Counsel’s Office opened an inquiry last year into Lewandowski’s potential abuse of that status. Officials reported a lower number of work days than suspected, and sources alleged Lewandowski avoided swiping into buildings to stay under the service limit. No action was taken, and his SGE status was renewed for 2026.

“Lewandowski has taken on a much more expansive role than the status typically allows, directing personnel and contracting and handling classified information.”

The Wall Street Journal reported, noting that his involvement in awarding contracts while maintaining private sector interests had raised alarm bells inside both the White House and DHS.

Noem implemented an approval process for all DHS spending over $100,000 — a move that held up contracts across the department, including a bulk steel contract for the border wall that sat on her desk from December until Feb. 10. During that delay, steel prices reportedly rose by more than $100 million, meaning less wall could be built with the $46.5 billion Congress allocated for the project.

CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, a 30-year Border Patrol veteran, reportedly told administration officials that Noem and Lewandowski mismanaged wall construction. At one point, Scott grew so frustrated he told Lewandowski he would no longer take orders from him since the 130-day limit had expired. Around Christmas, according to the Journal, Noem and Lewandowski retaliated by reassigning Scott’s chief of staff and pressuring his deputy to resign without explanation. Scott reportedly told advisers he believed the moves were designed to force him out, since as a Senate-confirmed official, Noem could not directly fire him.

Noem DHS Rivalry With Homan and Self-Promotion

The investigation also detailed a personal rivalry between Noem and Homan that extended beyond policy disagreements into media competition. Noem allegedly tracked her television appearances alongside Homan’s and berated staff if the border czar received more airtime. On at least one occasion, she asked aides to ensure she drew a larger crowd than Homan at a conference where both were scheduled to speak on different days.

The pair’s approach to media extended to immigration enforcement itself. The Journal reported Noem and Lewandowski had pushed ICE to capture dramatic arrests on video for social media content. But after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, the pair berated Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons over videos of federal agents clashing with protesters — despite Lyons having advocated for the targeted enforcement approach Noem and Lewandowski then demanded he adopt.

The Journal reported the pair also traveled aboard a luxury 737 MAX jet with a private cabin, originally designated for high-profile deportations. DHS is leasing the aircraft and expects to purchase it for approximately $70 million — twice the combined cost of all seven other planes the department is acquiring for deportation flights. DHS staff reportedly referred to it as Noem’s “big, beautiful jet.”

A DHS spokesperson said both Cabinet-level travel and deportations take place on the aircraft.

Bipartisan Reactions Signal Deep Concern

The political response to the WSJ report was swift and remarkably cross-partisan.

“There are about five separate bombshells in this lengthy WSJ story about Kristi Noem’s management of DHS, but everyone will want to talk about her relationship to Corey Lewandowski.”

National Review’s Jeff Blehar observed, referencing the widely circulated but officially denied reports of a romantic relationship between the two. Both Noem and Lewandowski are married to other people and have called the rumors a “disgusting lie.”

“The knives are out for Noem and Lewandowski. If even half of the stuff in this WSJ piece is true, they should both be gone.”

RealClearPolitics’ Tom Bevan wrote on X.

Former Republican congresswoman Barbara Comstock called the pair “wholly unqualified and a disaster at DHS,” while conservative commentator Meghan McCain asked simply: “How does Kristi Noem still have a job?”

From the left, former Obama adviser David Axelrod compared the scope of the sourcing to Agatha Christie.

“This piece was like Murder on the Orient Express. There are so many sources all over the government sharing shocking detail — including the White House, DOJ and Noem’s own agency — that she’d have to spend the rest of her tenure, and maybe her life, figuring out all of their names.”

The Atlantic’s David Frum offered perhaps the most barbed conservative commentary, describing the article as reading like a bonus chapter of C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters” in which demons band together to expel two colleagues deemed too nasty even for their ranks.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Journal that President Trump retains full confidence in Noem’s leadership. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin dismissed the report’s characterizations.

“This department doesn’t waste time with salacious, baseless gossip — we have actual work to do keeping the American homeland and its citizens safe.”

McLaughlin told The Independent.

Yet multiple senior administration officials told the Journal that DHS has become the biggest headache of Trump’s second term, and that the president has entertained calls to dismiss both Noem and Lewandowski — though he has so far declined to act. Former Harvard Kennedy School homeland security lecturer Juliette Kayyem noted that the report confirmed what had long been whispered in security circles about the scope of dysfunction.

The question now facing the Trump administration extends beyond any single allegation. When the nation’s largest domestic security agency — responsible for 260,000 employees, border enforcement, disaster response and counterterrorism—is described by its own senior officials as being in “constant chaos,” the consequences reach far beyond Washington palace intrigue.

If the Journal’s reporting is even partially accurate, at what point does institutional dysfunction at DHS cross the line from political embarrassment into a genuine national security concern — and who bears the responsibility for drawing that line?

Sources

This report was compiled using information from the Wall Street Journal’s investigation as detailed by Mediaite and political reaction coverage, The Daily Beast’s reporting on the luxury jet and badge demand, Raw Story’s coverage, The Independent’s summary via AOL, Alternet’s analysis, the Washington Examiner’s investigation into the Rodney Scott conflict and border wall delays, House Oversight Democrats’ letter on Lewandowski’s SGE status, CBP’s border wall contract announcements, and The Hill’s reporting on wall funding.

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