Lewandowski Out at DHS After Noem Firing, Department Confirms

Three days before a DHS spokesperson confirmed that Corey Lewandowski "no longer has a role" at the department, photos released by the U.S. embassy in Guyana showed the former Trump campaign manager seated alongside then-Secretary Kristi Noem in official meetings with that country's president, Irfaan Ali. The image captured, in a single frame, the unprecedented reach of a man who held no formal title, drew no government salary, and yet operated at the highest levels of an agency overseeing immigration enforcement, border security, counter-terrorism, and disaster response.

Noem's ouster by President Donald Trump earlier in March severed Lewandowski's access overnight. Trump's firing came after a series of congressional hearings that exposed what critics described as a shadow power structure inside DHS, one built around the relationship between a confirmed secretary and an unpaid adviser whose role remained largely unaccountable to standard procurement oversight. The Senate confirmed former Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin as Noem's replacement on March 24, and Lewandowski's exit followed days later.

His departure is not the end of the accountability questions swirling around his tenure. The DHS inspector general launched a formal investigation into how contracts were solicited and handled, specifically including the involvement of Noem and Lewandowski. According to sources familiar with the probe, investigators ordered dozens of DHS officials to preserve records as part of the inquiry, which is separate from a previously announced audit into DHS grants and contracts awarded outside full and open competition during fiscal year 2025.

The contracting questions carry real weight. Democratic senators opened inquiries into whether Lewandowski solicited personal payments from contractors while embedded at DHS as a special government employee, a classification that allows individuals to work on specific projects without the full obligations of a permanent federal post. Internal DHS records reviewed by ProPublica contradicted Noem's congressional testimony that Lewandowski had not been involved in approving department contracts. His attorney denied he demanded payments, stating the allegations were "absolutely false and did not happen."

At a March congressional hearing, a Democratic lawmaker pressed Noem directly about whether she and Lewandowski had a sexual relationship. Noem called the question "tabloid garbage." But the more consequential lines of inquiry centered on procurement. Republican Senator John Kennedy separately confronted Noem over DHS advertising contracts worth up to a quarter of a billion dollars, noting that one chosen vendor had been formed just 11 days before DHS selected it. ProPublica also reported that a lucrative advertising subcontract was awarded to the husband of a former DHS spokesperson.

Noem herself was not removed from public life. Trump named her special envoy to the "Shield of the Americas," a Western Hemisphere security initiative, placing her under Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. A State Department official declined to explain why Lewandowski had accompanied her on the Guyana trip during that transitional period.

The new DHS leadership under Mullin now inherits an agency in the midst of a formal watchdog investigation, with dozens of officials under records-preservation orders and congressional oversight committees still pursuing answers about how procurement decisions were made. The stakes extend well beyond internal politics. George Zoley, founder of private prison giant GEO Group, sought a meeting with Lewandowski shortly after he joined DHS, at a moment when detention contracts tied to Trump's mass deportation agenda were expanding at scale. Who now controls access and contract influence inside the department carries immediate financial consequences for companies positioned around that agenda.

Lewandowski's exit removes a name from the org chart. It does not close the file.