Trump names Kristi Noem as his pick for Homeland Security secretary
Washington — President-elect Donald Trump named South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as his nominee for secretary of Homeland Security.
"Kristi has been very strong on Border Security," Trump said in a statement Tuesday. "She was the first Governor to send National Guard Soldiers to help Texas fight the Biden Border Crisis, and they were sent a total of eight times. She will work closely with 'Border Czar' Tom Homan to secure the Border, and will guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries."
Noem said she was honored and humbled to be picked for the job.
"With Donald Trump, we will secure the Border, and restore safety to American communities so that families will again have the opportunity to pursue The American Dream," Noem said in a statement.
The 52-year-old second-term governor, if confirmed, would have one of the most powerful jobs in Washington, controlling a $62 billion discretionary budget (plus $23 billion for disaster response and recovery) and roughly 260,000 employees. DHS is the third largest department in the U.S. government, behind the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
The sprawling department includes the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration, among others.
As governor, Noem has sent several deployments of South Dakota's National Guard troops to reinforce the southern border since 2021, writing in a statement during the last, in 2024, "the border is a warzone, so we're sending soldiers."
Trump has already appointed two immigration hardliners to the incoming administration: Tom Homan, his former Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, will serve as "border czar and senior adviser Stephen Miller will be deputy chief of staff for policy.
CNN first reported the development, which comes as Trump makes a slew of announcements for nominations for top roles in his incoming administration. Noem, a Republican governor, had been among a list of possible running mates for Trump earlier this year. But questions swirled about her political future after she detailed in her new book a story about killing her dog decades ago, sparking intense criticism, as well as claims that appeared to be false about meeting Kim Jong Un.
Noem gained national attention following a refusal to employ a mask mandate policy in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. When she took office in 2019, she became the first woman to serve as governor of South Dakota.
The president-elect has announced a number of nominees and appointments since winning a decisive victory in the 2024 election last week.
On Friday, Noem criticized Democratic governors who have pledged to resist Trump's immigration policies, calling the move by politicians like California Gov. Gavin Newsom "extremely irresponsible."
"If I had a new president in the White House, and even if he wasn't from my political party, the first thing I would do would be call him up and see if I could get a meeting," Noem said on NewsNation.