While the Senate has almost finished confirming President Trump's Cabinet, his nominees aren't clear of controversy yet - as one of his top aides faces fresh scrutiny over an alleged affair.
According to Politico, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has hired Corey Lewandowski, the longtime Trump operative and former Trump campaign manager. As reported by the Daily Mail, Noem and Lewandowski have an alleged romantic history.
It's a potentially unwelcome distraction for the White House as Noem is tasking with implementing one of Trump's most important missions - the mass deportation of illegal aliens.
A report in Politico said that Lewandowski has quietly joined the DHS as a "special government employee," an informal status also shared by Elon Musk.
"Like Elon Musk and so many other patriots, Mr. Lewandowski volunteers his time as a special government employee (SGE) to help President Trump Make America Great Again," a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
The hire is certain to raise eyebrows given Lewandowski's alleged past with his new boss.
The rumors of the affair first emerged in American Greatness in 2021, with Noem dismissing the reports as a "disgusting lie" at the time.
Later reports in Daily Mail and New York Post said their relationship was an open secret, with the pair often seen sharing affection together in public.
Noem was widely seen as a contender to be Trump's vice president in 2024, but her odds fell sharply after comments she made in a book about shooting an aggressive dog. Her alleged affair may also have damaged her political hopes, according to reporter Alex Isenstadt, who writes about the tryst in his upcoming book Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump's Return To Power.
Trump advisers noticed Lewandowski hanging around Noem "like a puppy dog," and Trump would joke that Lewandowski had a "girlfriend."
"Lewandowski, Trump said, knew how to bat out of his league,” Isenstadt writes.
Both Noem and Lewandowski remain married to their respective spouses. Noem has been married to her husband, Bryon, since 1992 and Lewandowski tied the knot with his wife Alison in 2005.
Lewandowski became known in 2016 as Trump's first campaign manager, with Lewandowski coining the mantra "Let Trump Be Trump" in support of Trump's brash political style.
Trump fired Lewandowski a month before the Republican convention, but he remained in the president's orbit and made a shocking return last year, joining Trump's re-election campaign in August as a senior advisor.
While Noem missed out on the VP role, Trump nominated her to one of his most high-profile Cabinet positions, tasking her with overseeing his sweeping crackdown on mass immigration at the DHS.
