Tipsheet

The Nine Lives of Kristi Noem...and She Used Them All Very Quickly

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  March 07, 2026 6:50 AM

Kristi Noem is out at the Department of Homeland Security. It’s been a long time coming, apparently. I don’t care about the relationship drama; there is a general principle here, which we’ll get to in a second. It also became an issue this week, brought to the forefront during her congressional hearings. Frankly, Noem delivered some zingers to Democrats, caused Republican Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) to go bananas, and seemed prepared for the heat. The line of questioning about DHS PR ads, however, left Trump seething. The ads highlighted the ongoing deportation effort. Noem is shown pressing illegals to self-deport, at a cost of over $200 million. Trump was unaware of this move. 

The president is willing to overlook a lot of personal issues, but damaging your boss's reputation or catching him off guard will lead to trouble. This principle generally applies at any place of employment as well.   

Yet there were other things, too, as Jennie Taer noted. The relationship with Corey Lewandowski led to an odd answer, and the grilling she faced from the GOP was, as she put it, not done without a go-ahead from “a higher party leader.” 

  • The walls have been closing in on Noem for months, but her blaming of POTUS for the $200 million deportation ads w/ questionable contracts may have been the final straw
  • GOP lawmakers started to sour on Noem after she got ahead of an investigation by calling Alex Pretti a domestic terrorist
  • A GOP Senate source tells me the grilling she faced on Capitol Hill from the GOP was definitely done with the blessing of a higher party leader 
  • When asked by lawmakers if she was sleeping with her advisor Corey Lewandowski, Noem couldn't definitively say no. The source said she did so to not have another admin get her for perjury. 
  • Rank and file officials at DHS want leadership with law enforcement experience 
  • There's also been a lot of leadership shakeups in recent months at DHS, with Noem's spox and the ICE deputy director leaving the agency

In general, again, the relationship stuff isn’t a big deal, BUT, as Tony Soprano said, “you don’t s**t where you eat.” You’ve got to be aware. Still, I think, ultimately, not being upfront about this ad campaign was the straw that broke the camel’s back. There were a slew of issues, the party was losing confidence, and, if lawmakers can see it, you can bet the rank-and-file at DHS were aware. And likely not happy.