Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a video this week showing her husband, Bryon Noem, departing from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, a public display of marital solidarity that arrived amid renewed speculation about her relationship with senior aide Corey Lewandowski and fresh scrutiny over travel inside the Department of Homeland Security.
In the brief clip, Noem is heard saying she is "just dropping off my husband, who's headed back to South Dakota," as Bryon Noem waves from the security checkpoint. She waves back before the video ends. The post accompanied a message accusing Democrats in Congress of withholding federal funding affecting Transportation Security Administration workers during a budget impasse.
The timing drew attention in Washington political circles. Rumors about a close relationship between Noem, 54, and Lewandowski, 52, have circulated for years. Both are married to other people, and neither has publicly confirmed any romantic involvement.
Noem has repeatedly denied allegations of an affair. In September 2021, she called such claims a "disgusting lie," characterizing them as false attacks. Her spokesperson later rejected similar reporting from other outlets in 2023.
Lewandowski, a longtime Republican political operative and former campaign manager for Donald Trump, serves as a senior adviser at DHS under a special government employee designation, which limits service to 130 days per year. Reports have described him as operating in a role resembling a de facto chief of staff.
A Wall Street Journal report published Feb. 13, 2026, detailed internal dynamics at DHS, including the shared use of a government-leased Boeing 737 MAX equipped with a private cabin. Staff jokingly referred to the aircraft as a "big, beautiful jet," according to the Journal.
The same report described an incident in which Lewandowski dismissed a Coast Guard pilot after Noem's blanket was left behind during a mid-trip aircraft switch. The pilot was reinstated shortly afterward because no alternative was available to complete the return flight.
Online reactions to the airport video were immediate. One comment read: "And you're still getting paid to fly around on your personal $70,000,000 Boeing 737 MAX and continue your affair with Corey Lewandowski in your 737 MAX bedroom." The department has not publicly addressed that specific claim.
Bryon Noem, who married Kristi Noem in 1992 in Watertown, South Dakota, runs a crop insurance agency near Castlewood and rarely appears in Washington political settings. The couple has three children. On the South Dakota Governor's website, he is quoted as saying marrying Kristi was his "best decision." In May 2024, she marked their 32nd anniversary on Instagram, calling him the person who made her "a wife, mother, grandmother."
Political observers note that while public officials often post family content, the airport video stood out given its proximity to recent reporting. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has previously dismissed criticism of the department's activities as a "non-story" in unrelated contexts.
