Exclusive: Dems Say Republican Investigation Into Noem, Lewandowski Is a Farce

GOP lawmakers were defending and praising the former DHS secretary until very recently.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem being sworn in before testifying during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on March 3, 2026. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

A SPLASHY NEW YORK POST piece last week revealed House Republicans were doing something rare—actually investigating the former leadership of the Department of Homeland Security under President Trump.

But in the days since that story broke, Democrats on the committee say they believe the investigation is a ruse. They say they’ve been frozen out of the process and that any effort at oversight has come much too late. They’ve received no details or updates from Republicans, who, they note, were defending and lauding former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem just weeks ago.

In a letter to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) called on Republicans to change course if they’re serious about holding Noem and her former lieutenant Corey Lewandowski accountable.

“Now that House Republicans have finally decided to investigate the inappropriate use of funds by Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski,” Ramirez wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Bulwark, “I request that the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Judiciary Committee include Democrats in the full investigation, as is the precedent. Furthermore, I once again call on Congress to conduct a thorough investigation into Secretary Noem’s unlawful and potentially impeachable actions.”

Garbarino has trumpeted that, as part of a committee investigation, House Republicans would look into Noem and Lewandowski’s DHS spending, including an infamous $220 million ad campaign that featured Noem on horseback and ultimately hastened her firing. As he told the New York Post, Republicans on the panel were “already doing a lot of oversight” and had “asked for a lot of things.”

“I think Corey had his hands in a lot and probably should not have,” Garbarino said last week at a House GOP retreat in Miami. “We are looking into a lot of contracts.”

Careful reporting. Smart analysis. Thoughtful commentary. Don’t miss any of our independent journalism—sign up for Bulwark+ today at 20 percent off the annual price.

Ramirez told me that she thought Garbarino’s newfound investigative zeal was “laughable” and “hypocritical,” considering he and his fellow Republicans did nothing as she raised concerns about corruption at DHS and called for Noem’s impeachment for nearly a year. She noted that in recent months, Republicans praised Noem and her agency—Garbarino even went out of his way to “commend” Noem at an oversight hearing in December.¹

“Six, seven weeks ago, not one of those Republicans critiqued her for mismanagement of funds. They thanked her, congratulated her, and uplifted her,” Ramirez said in an interview. “But now they’re feeling the pressure because voters are tired of corruption and don’t care if it’s a Republican or Democrat.”

Ramirez’s letter comes as the ranking Democrats on various House committees have begun taking their own, independent steps to investigate Noem’s tenure. Those members have called on DHS to “preserve all communications and internal records” with respect to Lewandowski’s work, alleging he was a “shadow chief-of-staff” who exceeded the limits on his position as a “special government employee.” On Thursday, NBC News reported that Lewandowski allegedly demanded to be paid by DHS contractors in exchange for securing government work—an accusation that Lewandowski denied.

Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), who sits on the Homeland Security Committee, said she was similarly frustrated with the House Republicans’ investigation.

“I haven’t gotten anything personally from House Republicans, I’ve read articles about the inquiry just like you,” McIver told me.

McIver has been at the center of several high-profile fights with the administration over its immigration policy. She was charged with assaulting law enforcement officers during a visit to the Delaney Hall detention center last May, in an episode that stirred controversy because video showed federal agents initiating contact. In our interview, she depicted her GOP colleagues’ sudden interest in investigating Noem as a joke.

“Trump is done with her so now Republicans are picking up and doing their job, which they were supposed to have been doing, but they threw that to the side to focus on cruelty against the American people and kissing Trump’s butt,” she said.

Among the matters that Garbarino has said he is interested in investigating is Noem’s rule that she had to personally approve contracts over $100,000, which he claimed “bottlenecked” critical funding like disaster relief. Ramirez scoffed at the idea that Garbarino was suddenly concerned with this policy, noting that Republicans didn’t care about it when Noem appeared before the committee.

Ramirez expressed concern that nothing would change if Sen. Markwayne Mullin is confirmed as the next DHS secretary. The Oklahoma Republican, who cleared a key Senate committee vote this morning, had said he is supportive of certain changes to how ICE operates, including procedures to ensure that they have judicial warrants before attempting to make arrests. As with the House GOP’s investigation into Noem, Ramirez regarded this as a smokescreen.

“They don’t need a judicial warrant because it’s DHS, so one of their own supervisors can sign a warrant to go abduct someone, it’s despicable,” she said.

1. Garbarino was collectively commending Noem along with the two other witnesses at the hearing: Michael Glasheen, operations director of the FBI; and Joe Kent, who was director of the National Counterterrorism Center until he resigned this week in protest of the war in Iran.