Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem files for divorce from husband of 34 years

SIOUX FALLS, SD (AP) — Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has filed for divorce from her husband of 34 years.

Noem, who was tasked with leading President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown from January 2025 to March 2026 and previously served as governor of South Dakota, is filing for divorce from Bryon Noem in her home state. The two married in May 1992 and have three children.

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The filing, filed in April but posted online Monday, follows questions raised earlier this year about the nature of Kristi Noem’s relationship with a top adviser. The complaint, filed in Hamlin County, cites “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the divorce.

In a statement, Kristi Noem’s lawyer confirmed that she had filed for divorce and said she would reserve further comment for the legal proceedings. Bryon Noem’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A day before Noem was ousted from her post in Trump’s Cabinet, members of Congress questioned her about an alleged extramarital affair with Corey Lewandowski, a special government employee and one of the secretary’s top advisers. He served as Trump’s first campaign manager in 2016 and appeared to play an outsized role in Noem’s department, even though his position was supposed to limit the number of days worked.

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Noem has denied allegations that they had an affair, calling them “tabloid trash.”

Once a close Trump ally, Noem became a liability to the Republican president as questions arose about her conduct following the shooting deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis at the hands of immigration agents. Noem called Renee Good and Alex Pretti the attackers, contradicting videos from the scene and descriptions of their deaths by bystanders. She has also been criticized by her Republican colleagues for her spending in her department.

Trump nominated Markwayne Mullin, then a U.S. senator from Oklahoma, to replace Noem and made her a special envoy for the Americas Shield, a new security initiative focused on the Western Hemisphere.

Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City, Utah.