President-elect Donald Trump announced that he had chosen South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday, November 12th. Noem, who has served as South Dakota’s governor since 2019, would lead a department responsible for managing national security, immigration, disaster response, and several key federal agencies, including the United States Secret Service and Customs and Border Protection.
Currently serving her second term, Noem would oversee a department with more than 260,000 employees and a $62 billion budget. DHS is responsible for critical functions, including border security, disaster response, and protecting U.S. infrastructure—areas that are central to the Trump administration’s policy priorities. Noem’s experience in handling state-level security issues, including deploying the National Guard to reinforce border security, aligns with the role’s national security focus.
During her tenure as governor, Noem made headlines for her deployment of South Dakota National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and her opposition to a statewide mask mandate during the COVID-19 outbreak. She emphasized her commitment to more strong border security in 2024 when she referred to the situation at the border as a “warzone.”
Noem’s nomination comes amid a backdrop of controversy, particularly stemming from her memoir, where she narrated killing a dog on her family farm, a story that sparked widespread backlash. Despite the criticism, Noem has remained a steadfast ally of Trump, with some advisers suggesting that her controversial moments did not significantly harm her standing within the Republican Party.
If confirmed, Noem will lead a department that protects U.S. infrastructure, coordinates disaster response efforts, and supports national counterterrorism operations. Her nomination aligns with Trump’s focus on national security and border control as top priorities for his new administration.
