Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is facing questions over a statement she posted on social media announcing that she would remain at the State Department after leaving her role as special envoy for President Donald Trump’s Shield of the Americas security initiative.

The statement, shared October 16 on Noem’s official envoy and personal X accounts, used State Department letterhead and said her special envoy position “was always a six-month appointment.” It also stated that Noem would continue working at the department as a senior adviser.

However, Politico reported Friday that the document was not authorized by department leadership and was not an official State Department press release. The outlet cited two people familiar with Noem’s role at the department.

“This was not a press release put out by the State Department,” one source told Politico. “Noem went rogue and created a fake letterhead to post on X.”

Neither Noem nor the State Department had responded to Politico’s requests for comment at the time of the report.

The controversy follows the administration’s decision to end Noem’s appointment as special envoy while retaining her at the State Department in an advisory capacity. A State Department official previously told CBS News that Noem’s envoy status had expired the previous month and that she was now serving as a senior adviser to Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau while continuing to work on the Shield of the Americas portfolio.

Trump announced in March that Noem would move to the special envoy position after removing her as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. He selected then-Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, to replace her.

Noem’s departure from DHS followed months of scrutiny over her leadership, including congressional questions about immigration enforcement, fatal shootings involving federal immigration officers, disaster relief and a $220 million taxpayer-funded advertising campaign promoting the administration’s deportation agenda.

The disputed statement has raised a separate issue about the use of official government branding. A document presented on State Department letterhead can appear to carry the department’s authority, but the department’s confirmation that it did not issue the statement means it should not be treated as an official press release.

The available reporting does not establish who created the document, whether Noem personally produced the letterhead, or what action the department may take in response.