Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security, faced senators during her confirmation hearing on Friday. Noem, currently serving her second term as South Dakota governor and previously a U.S. congresswoman, is widely supported by Republican senators, a factor likely to play a key role in her confirmation.
If approved, she would oversee one of the nation’s largest federal agencies and lead the administration’s efforts to overhaul border security.
The position has seen significant turnover during Trump’s earlier tenure, with six individuals cycling through the role in four years. Noem would succeed outgoing Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who was impeached by House Republicans in early 2024 due to their dissatisfaction with his handling of border security and the surge in illegal immigration.
During her hearing, Noem pledged a dramatic shift from Mayorkas’ policies and committed to executing Trump’s stringent immigration agenda. She promised to end the CBP One app, a tool introduced under the Biden administration to streamline the asylum-seeking process.
Noem also vowed to scale back humanitarian parole, limit temporary immigration relief for individuals fleeing unrest, and reinstate the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy, which required asylum-seekers to await U.S. court hearings in Mexico.
If confirmed, Noem’s leadership could bring sweeping changes to U.S. immigration enforcement and border security strategies.
Noem has been a staunch critic of the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis and has sent South Dakota National Guard troops to Texas to provide assistance in border efforts.
In January 2024, Noem and 24 other Republican governors released a statement supporting Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s (R) actions to secure the southern border.
“President Biden and his Administration have left Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border. Instead of upholding the rule of law and securing the border, the Biden Administration has attacked and sued Texas for stepping up to protect American citizens from historic levels of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorists entering our country,” the statement read.
