Luxe jets, blankies, Lewandowski: Noem’s Day 2 hearing left little to imagination

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem forcefully defended her department’s immigration enforcement policies Wednesday before Democratic lawmakers — part of a heated and contentious House Oversight Committee hearing that, at times, became deeply personal.

The hearing is the second in a series of consecutive DHS oversight hearings focused on the agency’s immigration enforcement actions and Noem’s leadership at the department, and comes as members of Congress remain deadlocked over how to move forward with fully funding the sprawling federal agency.

Here are the best moments from this action-packed hearing.

Democrats attack Lewandowski, cuddly toys and luxury jets

Some Democrats on the panel focused on the responsibilities Corey Lewandowski carried as special adviser to the Department of Homeland Security. Rep. Sydney Kalmager-Dove, Democrat of California, cited a Wall Street Journal article from last month that said Trump had rejected Lewandowski’s request to be Noem’s chief of staff “due to reports of a romantic relationship” between the two.

Noem and Lewandowski have denied reports of an affair.

Kalmager-Dove questioned Noem, point-blank, about the nature of their relationship. “This person has no experience running anything close to the Department of Homeland Security, or even advising someone in your position,” Kalmager-Dove said, noting that his role as a special government employee extended “well beyond the authorized 130-day period.”

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem takes her seat as she arrives to testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. (AFP via Getty)

“He is unqualified, which has left my constituents wondering why he is your highest-ranking official,” she added.
“So, Secretary Noem, at any time during your tenure as director of the Department of Homeland Security, did you have sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski?”

Noem turned briefly to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan before responding. “Mr. Chairman, I am shocked that we are selling bullshit to the newspapers in this committee today,” she said.

To Kalmager-Dove, she said: “Ma’am, one thing I would like to 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.”

Corey Lewandowski is seen before a House Intelligence Committee hearing. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Raskin says Noem is ‘flying too close to the sun’

The panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., pressed Noem for details on Lewandowski’s role at DHS, but in the context of the issue of DHS’s use of so-called “luxury jets.” Noem had defended the use of the jets the day before in Senate testimony, pointing out that they were used for both executive travel and mass deportations.

Raskin said Wednesday that he was almost ready to believe the story. “And then I heard about an airborne episode of entitlement, arrogance and contempt that I found hard to believe.”

“Apparently, when your special blanket – your security blanket – was left on one of the government planes and not carried on the new one, your special government employee, Corey Lewandowski, chivalrously stepped forward to send the pilot flying,” Raskin said.

“A 2003 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy and distinguished member of the U.S. Coast Guard, he commanded… [who then] had to be rehired immediately because no one else could carry you two the rest of the trip home,” Raskin said. “Secretary Noem, you’re flying high now, maybe even a little too close to the sun.”

The exchanges were particularly tense, notably due to the presence of Noem’s husband, seated at the podium for the entire duration of the hearing.

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DHS Secretary Kristi Noem testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Getty Images)

Swalwell and Noem clash

Later in the hearing, Rep. Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California, confronted Noem about the case of Miguel Lopez, a migrant who had lived in the United States illegally for about three decades before his deportation last year. Lopez is married to a US resident. “I went to see Miguel in Mexico,” Swalwell told Noem. “He doesn’t have a job…and it’s difficult for him to communicate” after being away from his home country for about three decades.

Noémi intervened: “Did he have a criminal record?

Swalwell acknowledged that Lopez pleaded guilty to a “lesser nonviolent charge” in 1995, but asked Noem to acknowledge “the pain” caused by the administration’s broader deportation policy.

“Pain?” Noème replied. “And I would like people to do it right. If they don’t have legal status in this country, they can go home. We will pay for them to go home.”

As for Miguel, she said, “I hope he got the $2,600 he could have” by choosing to self-deport.

Federal agents forcibly arrest an anti-ICE protester in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, October 12, 2025, in Portland, Oregon. (Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty)

“The worst of the worst”

The most heated exchange came when Rep. Steve Cohen, Democrat of Tennessee, pressed Noem on the Trump administration’s repeated pledge to target “the worst of the worst” offenders in its suppression efforts.

“Tell me about the worst of the worst,” Cohen said.

Noem replied, “Worst of the worst served. I think you offended the families behind me today with that.”

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, left, and White House Border Czar Tom Homan speak with reporters at the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Cohen responded that he didn’t intend to offend anyone and said it was wrong for Noem to suggest he did so. But Noem doubled down, arguing that critics were downplaying the consequences of illegal immigration.

“I was making the point that these individuals are not violent offenders, and you continue to say that these individuals who are in this country illegally are not harming families,” she said.

Cohen noted that undocumented immigrants are statistically “less likely” than people born in the United States to commit crimes.

Noem then gestured to family members seated behind her, recounting stories of children lost to fentanyl overdoses and fatal car crashes involving undocumented drivers.

“The vast majority of these people behind me lost their children to drugs, drug overdoses that came across the southern border,” Noem said. “They died because of beatings by their children, road accidents driven by illegal drivers.”

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Cohen acknowledged the tragedies but argued that they did not address his broader argument. “All of this is true and given that it is true,” he said. “But you say you’re only looking for the worst of the worst, and that’s not the case.”

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