As the Trump administration takes it aggressive stance on illegal immigration, questions are rising about if its official leader, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, or her defacto chief of staff, Corey Lewandowski, are really in charge, according to a report Monday.

Calling Noem a potential future "warden of the state" and face of DHS, Lewandowski is considered the "muscle," wrote Ben Terris, New York Magazine's Washington correspondent, in an in-depth report on power battles within the administration.

Noem and Lewandowski, who are rumored to be romantically involved — and two of Trump's most trusted allies — "like so many in Trump’s Cabinet, position themselves for a post-Trump future," the article reported.

“She’s going to play a key role in advancing Donald Trump’s effort to consolidate the powers of the presidency,” a former DHS official told Terris. “I think by the end of this administration, if she stays the whole time, she’s likely to become the warden of the police state.”

Terris outlined how the department has become fraught with fear, especially in the wake of Charlie Kirk's killing, as the Trump administration has vowed to target its opponents. It's expected that Noem will be responsible for leading these efforts in the "tight inner circle that can be difficult to penetrate and often impossible to work with."

"The culture over there is terrible," the administration official told Terris. “People are scared s---less of Corey.”

Lewandowski, who is technically an unpaid and special government employee, has major influence. Like Noem, he has his sights on what comes after Trump.

"Lewandowski has been integral to Noem’s rise, her right hand as they run roughshod over the rule of law and, like so many in Trump’s Cabinet, position themselves for a post-Trump future," Terris reports. "Lewandowski is not only surreptitiously co-leading DHS without congressional approval but has brought Trumpworld’s manically pugnacious style to the department and drawn out some of Noem’s own pugnacious predilections, too."