Noem to climb Capitol Hill for confirmation hearing day after State of the State
Governor currently slated for one day of Homeland Security meetings
Gov. Kristi Noem’s bid to become the next Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary will meet its penultimate challenge when she heads to Washington D.C. next week for her confirmation hearing.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee made official Noem’s date and time for her confirmation hearing Tuesday night, announcing the governor will appear before that group of senators on Jan. 15 at 9 a.m. Eastern Time.
Noem’s 9 a.m. local start time is the only day that she is currently scheduled to appear. That same day at 1 p.m., the committee led by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is slated to do the confirmation hearing for Russell Vought — President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget.
Noem has remained relatively quiet on her bid to become the next DHS secretary — but the push to get her the job has picked up significant momentum since it was confirmed by Trump in mid-November. Still reeling from a terrorist attack in his state’s largest city of New Orleans, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry urged the U.S. Senate to quickly push Noem’s nomination along so that there would be “no gap in leadership” between her and outgoing DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Noem’s nomination has received the endorsements of several major law enforcement entities like the Fraternal Order of Police, her future colleague Border Czar Tom Homan, and key Senate leaders like Paul. A press release from the Senator last year credited Paul with saying that his committee would move “expeditiously” to confirm Noem to the position.
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All together, it could lead to Noem becoming sworn into the office responsible for entities like FEMA, the Secret Service, Border Patrol and the Coast Guard as soon as Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. Her annual State of the State address on Jan. 14, marking the start of the annual legislative session, would likely be one of her last speeches to South Dakota as its governor.
Still, nothing is a given, especially when it requires an act of Congress. The 15-member committee’s seven Democrats will likely pan the governor for her past missteps here in the Rushmore State. Their membership includes high-profile figures like Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and progressive border state Sen. Ruben Gallego.
But polling indicates that the public supports deporting illegal immigrants after more than 10 million entered the country during the Biden administration, and Noem has been among the toughest border security hawks in the country. She was the fist governor in the country to send National Guard troops to the border to assist Texas in its attempt to stem the flow of migrants.
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I feel safer. Not! Life is now more threatening and uncertain. Sure, there is a border problem but we need rational, less politically motivated people to deal with it.
Kristi "I shoot puppies for my failure to train them" Noem will do nothing to prevent US citizens from committing acts of terrorism in NOLA or Las Vega--those have nothing to do with border issues. But mark my words, if confirmed, you'll suddenly see the terrible immigrant crime wave disappear because of her diligent efforts to collaborate with the real decision maker, Tom Homan. The beauty is they can just report the current migrant crime numbers. Never forget that 45 wouldn't listen to a woman, whether she's saying no to his sexual assault or to her advice about immigration reforms--we'll see the same bluster and executive orders topped off by some dramatic deportation theatrics. All to distract us from the confirmation of real power brokers like Vaught, Michael Duffey, Richard Grenell, Devin Nunes, the whole host of folks that the Senate will likely confirm while the mainstream news will cover the wack jobs like Gabbard and RFK Jr., and Patel and Bondi and the other completely unqualified nominees like Noem.