Reports: Trump to pick Noem for Homeland Security chief
South Dakota governor would lead agency responsible for border security
Gov. Kristi Noem has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next Homeland Security secretary.
The second-term South Dakota governor is in line to be the soon-to-be two-time commander-in-chief’s preferred choice to lead the executive branch’s border security arm, countering reports that the Republican Trump loyalist was not on a list of high-profile cabinet positions within the new administration.
According to multiple national news outlets, which spoke with a transition official close to Trump’s team, Noem has been tapped by Trump to lead the agency central to Trump’s domestic agenda. The report was also confirmed by Fox News and other sources.
Trump’s appointment of Noem, who entered national politics in 2010 after winning election in the 2010 Tea Party wave, follows the 52-year-old Castlewood native’s meteoric rise amid the COVID-19 pandemic when she bucked worldwide lockdowns.
Noem’s slated position would oversee Stephen Miller and Tom Homan, two high-profile immigration hardliners, serving in senior roles. Miller has been one of Trump’s closest advisers over the duration of his political career, while Homan — a former director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — has been tapped by Trump to be his “border czar.”
Trump’s choice of Noem underscores his intent to prioritize immigration and national security issues, fulfilling campaign promises to tighten border control and enforce stricter immigration measures.
Noem has for months been eyed for a post within a potential second Trump administration, even considered to be a front-runner as a running mate in early 2024.
The governor has considered a return to the nation’s capital prior to the latest reports. She told The Dakota Scout in February after meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago that she’d be open to taking a position alongside him.
“I’ve known Trump for years; we worked together when I was in Congress, he’s come to South Dakota,” said Noem, who at the time was earning national attention for spotlighting crime on South Dakota’s nine Indian reservations. She blamed President Joe Biden’s southern border policies and alleged Mexican drug cartels were occupying tribal lands. Noem’s remarks got her banished from South Dakota’s nine tribal reservations.
Ian Fury, the governor’s spokesman, declined to comment.
Noem’s appointment as head of Homeland Security would like require the consent of the U.S. Senate. A simple majority of the 100-member chamber, where 53 Republicans will be represented come January, would likely need to agree to Noem’s nomination. Though others have urged Senate leadership to allow Trump to make recess appointments while they are out of session. Doing so could allow him to move forward without consent from that body.
The Scout last week obtained a short list of officials being considered for high-ranking positions within the Trump administration, circulated among senior members of the president-elect’s transition team. Noem was absent from that list. But Trump is known to act on his own accord, and Noem was one of his most loyal supporters during his successful second campaign.
Noem served four years in the South Dakota Legislature before winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives and serving four terms there. She’s been governor of South Dakota since 2019.
If confirmed, Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden would assume gubernatorial roles through the remainder of Noem’s term, which ends in January 2027.
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I have no words that can be printed here. No background, no experience, just hair.
I'm not suggesting this won't happen, but ordering the South Dakota National Guard to Texas multiple times, making a couple quick photo op visits to the border and incessantly complaining about illegal aliens don't qualify a person to run the Department of Homeland Security. The roster of personnel in the department—for whom the secretary is responsible—is, in itself, daunting. Noem should take a peek at that before jumping into water that might be way over her head.