WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed it Kristi Noem Saturday as secretary of Homeland Security, putting South Dakota’s governor in charge of a sprawling agency vital to national security and President Donald Trump’s plans to address the fight illegal immigration.
Republicans kept the Senate busy Saturday to install the Senate’s newest member Trump’s national security team by 59-34 votes.
Minister of Defense Piet Hegseth was also confirmed in a dramatic decisive vote on Friday evening, when he joined as foreign minister Marco Rubio and CIA director John Ratcliffe. The Senate votes next Monday evening Scott Bessent confirmation as Minister of Finance.
Noem, a Trump ally who was in her second term as governor, received seven votes from Democrats. Republicans, who already had the necessary votes to confirm her, have expressed confidence in her determination to lead border security and immigration enforcement.
In a statement afterward, she pledged to “secure our southern border and fix our broken immigration system” while working to “detect and prevent terrorist threats and provide rapid relief and disaster relief to Americans in crisis.”
Noem was sworn in later Saturday at his home by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She was scheduled to be sworn in by Vice President J.D. Vance in the afternoon, but that was called off when she was delayed, according to a person familiar with the events who was not authorized to discuss them and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Eric Thayer via Getty Images
The Secretary of Homeland Security oversees U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Citizenship and Immigration Services. In addition to these agencies, the department is also responsible for securing air transportation, protecting dignitaries, responding to natural disasters and more.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Friday that “resolving this crisis and restoring respect for the rule of law is one of President Trump and Republicans’ top priorities. And it takes a decisive and committed leader in the department.
Democrats are divided over how to handle border enforcement and immigration under Trump, and his hardline stance is somewhat cheered.
Still, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, along with most other Democrats, voted against Noem. He pointed to “bipartisan solutions to fix the mess at our border,” adding that Noem “seems to be heading in the wrong direction.”
Trump plans major changes to the way the department functions, including involving the military in immigration enforcement reforming the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Those plans will immediately put Noem in the spotlight after the new president visited recent disaster sites in North Carolina and California on Friday.
During the day her hearing in the SenateNoem was repeatedly asked by Democratic senators whether she would provide disaster aid to states even if Trump asked her not to.
Noem avoided saying she would challenge the president, but told lawmakers: “I will implement the programs in accordance with the law and that this will be done without political bias.”
During Trump’s first four years in office, six people cycled through as Secretary of Homeland Security.
Noem, who held her state’s sole seat in the U.S. House for eight years before becoming governor in 2019, has risen in the Republican Party by working closely with Trump. At one point she was even considered to be his running mate.
However, her political shares took a temporary dip when she published a book last year containing an account of the killing of her hunting dog, as well a false claim that she had once met with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
After her appointment, she was succeeded as governor of South Dakota by Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden, a rancher and former state House member who was elected along with Noem in 2018.
Noem will be tasked with delivering on Trump’s favorite issue, border security. The president’s goals of deporting millions of people who entered the country illegally could make Noem, with her experience governing a rural state and growing up on a farm, in a difficult position. In South Dakota, many immigrants, some in the country without permanent legal status, are responsible for the labor-intensive jobs that produce food and housing.
She has so far promised to faithfully carry out the president’s orders and has copied his speech about an “invasion” at the US border with Mexico.
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Noem joined other Republican governors in sending National Guard troops to Texas to help Operation Lone Starwho tried to discourage migrants. Her decision was especially criticized because she accepted a $1 million donation from a Tennessee billionaire cover part of the implementation costs.
She said she chose to send National Guard troops “because of this invasion,” adding that “it’s a war zone down there.”