Trump White House Archived / Flickr (Left), Office of the Governor, South Dakota / Wikimedia Commons (Right)
CV NEWS FEED // Multiple sources reported on Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump is expected to pick Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to be his Secretary of Homeland Security.
This cabinet position comes with a range of responsibilities, including overseeing border security, counterterrorism, presidential safety, and disaster relief.
Noem’s nomination is pending Senate confirmation. Starting in January, Republicans will control the upper chamber with a majority of 53 seats, after scoring a net gain of four seats in the 2024 elections.
FOX News noted that if she is confirmed, Noem will oversee “U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).”
Noem is set to work with Trump’s new “border czar” Tom Homan, as well as “Stephen Miller, who was announced as the White House deputy of staff for policy on Monday,” FOX added.
During her political career, Noem has carved out a record of taking a strong conservative stance on border security and counterterrorism.
“As governor, Noem has dispatched troops from the South Dakota National Guard multiple times to serve along the U.S. southern border with Mexico,” FOX reported.
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Noem has served as governor of South Dakota since 2019. She was narrowly elected to the position in 2018, defeating her Democratic opponent by three points. In 2022, she was re-elected by a landslide 27-point margin, receiving the most votes of a gubernatorial candidate in the state’s history.
Before becoming governor, Noem served four two-year terms as South Dakota’s lone U.S. House member.
If Noem’s confirmation as Homeland Security Secretary is successful, Republican South Dakota Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden will succeed her as governor.
While she has received widespread recognition for her refusal to shut down the state’s economy following the COVID outbreak, Noem has been no stranger to controversy during her nearly six-year tenure leading South Dakota.
In March 2021, Noem issued a style and form veto of a bill aimed at preventing men from competing in women’s sports competitions in her state. Conservative critics at the time held that Noem, while generally supportive of women’s sports, ultimately caved to pressure from the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA).
Earlier this year, Noem received extensive media coverage following the publication of her memoir “No Going Back” – which included an account of her shooting her family dog, as well as a baseless claim that she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Before the book’s release, the South Dakota governor was reportedly on Trump’s vice-presidential shortlist. However, following the negative press, she quickly ceased being considered as a viable contender for the second spot on the Republican ticket.
In her new role, Noem is slated to succeed Alejandro Mayorkas, the current embattled DHS Secretary under the Biden-Harris administration.
Mayorkas’ deeply controversial tenure has been widely scrutinized. Critics consider him responsible for the rampant crisis at the southern border that intensified under the Biden presidency – which Trump has vowed to end in his second term.
In February, the Republican-controlled House impeached Mayorkas by one vote, making him the first cabinet secretary to be impeached since 1876. However, the Democratic-controlled Senate rejected both of the articles of impeachment against him.
