🇺🇸⚖️ Two Moments in Congress That Reportedly Led to Kristi Noem’s Removal as DHS Chief

KimLoan
March 6, 2026

Fired Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem sealed her fate with two answers at a pair of disastrous congressional hearings

Noem, who is the first cabinet secretary ousted during the second Trump administration, faced pointed questions from committee members on a range of thorny matters, from a recent DHS ad campaign with a Hollywood blockbuster budget to whether she’s sleeping with top aide Corey Lewandowski.

After answering the questions in a way that reportedly left President Trump “mad as a murder hornet,” she was out of a job less than 24 hours later

On Tuesday, GOP Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy grilled Noem over a massive taxpayer-funded ad campaign where she heavily featured herself during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

“How do you square that with the fact that you have spent $220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently?” the senator asked.

Noem replied, “Sir, the president tasked me with getting the message out to the country and to other countries with putting commercials out that if they were in the country illegally, that they needed to leave.”

“I’m not saying you’re not telling the truth. It’s just hard for me to believe,’’ he said, implying the now-former secretary had used the campaign – which she insisted was effective – to boost her profile.

“They were effective in your name recognition,” Kennedy remarked.

Kristi Noem trains with the Maritime Security Response Team West during a visit to Coast Guard Cutter Elm, in San Diego, CA, March 16, 2025.

“It puts the president in a terribly awkward spot.”

Trump was reportedly angered by the exchange, and Noem’s claim that he had green-lit the controversial ad campaign, Kennedy telling reporters the president was “mad as a murder hornet” and already considering replacing her.

The final straw followed an uncomfortable exchange during Wednesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing, in which Noem was asked point-blank if she ever slept with Lewandowski, who works as a special government employee.

“Have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski?” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) asked Noem, who batted the question away as “tabloid garbage.”

U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) speaks to reporters outside of the U.S. Capitol Building.

“I am shocked that we’re going down and peddling tabloid garbage in this committee today,” Noem said in response. “I would tell you is that he is a special government employee who works for the White House. There are thousands of them in the federal government.”

Kamlager-Dove pushed back, telling Noem, “You should be able to answer if someone asks if you or any federal official is sleeping with their subordinate. It’s the easiest. You should be wanting to answer that question.”

🇺🇸⚖️ Two Moments in Congress That Reportedly Led to Kristi Noem’s Removal as DHS Chief

KimLoan

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