Senate approves Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary
Senate confirmation Kristi Noem The former South Dakota governor was elected Homeland Security secretary in a 59-34 vote on Saturday, taking charge of a sprawling agency critical to national security and President Donald Trump’s plans. crackdown on illegal immigration.
Republicans on Saturday kept the Senate on track to confirm the newest members of Trump’s national security team. minister of defense Peter Heggs Confirmed Friday night, joining Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. John Ratcliffe. The Senate will vote on Monday night Scott Bessant Confirmed as Finance Minister.
“As Secretary of Homeland Security, I will work every day to keep all Americans safe,” Noem said in part in a statement announcing his appointment.
“I am grateful to President Trump and the United States Senate for their confidence in me,” she added. “Together, we will ensure that America once again serves as a beacon of freedom, safety and security for generations to come.”
Noem resigned from her post shortly after taking office as governor of South Dakota. This is her second six-year term. Her lieutenant governor, Larry Rhoden, is now the state’s 34th governor.
Noem, a Trump ally, received some Democratic support as she passed the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in a 13-2 vote. Nominate in advance earlier this week. Republicans already hold the votes needed to confirm her nomination and have expressed confidence in her determination to lead border security and immigration enforcement.
“Addressing this crisis and restoring respect for the rule of law is one of the top priorities for President Trump and Republicans,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Friday. “This will require a decisive and committed leader at the Department of Homeland Security. I believe Christie has what it takes to take on this task.”
Tom Williams
Democrats are divided over how to handle border enforcement and immigration under Trump, with some warming to his hardline stance.
Still, New York Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he would vote against Noem. He pointed to “bipartisan solutions to the chaos at the border,” adding that Noem “seems to be going in the wrong direction.”
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 ensuring the safety of air transportation, protecting political dignitaries, and responding to natural disasters.
Trump is planning major changes to how the department operates, including involving the military in immigration enforcement and reshaping the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The plans could put Noem in the spotlight immediately after the new president visits the scene of recent disasters in North Carolina and California on Friday.
During Senate hearings, Democratic senators repeatedly asked Noem whether she would provide disaster aid to states even if Trump asked her not to do so.
Noem avoided saying she would defy the president, but she told lawmakers, “I will implement these plans in accordance with the law and without political bias.”
Six people served as Homeland Security secretaries during Trump’s first four years in office.
Noem held the state’s lone U.S. House seat for eight years before becoming governor in 2019, rising in the Republican Party by working closely with Trump. At one point, she was even considered to be his running mate.
However, her political popularity fell when she published a book last year that chronicled her experience killing hunting dogs and falsely claimed she had met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
If confirmed, she would be responsible for addressing Trump’s pet border security issue. The president’s goal of deporting millions of illegal immigrants could put Noem, who has experience governing rural states and growing up on a farm, in a difficult position. In South Dakota, many immigrants, some of whom do not have permanent legal status in the country, work in labor-intensive jobs producing food and housing.
So far, she has pledged to faithfully carry out the president’s orders and echoed his rhetoric about an “invasion” of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Noem joined other Republican governors in sending National Guard troops to Texas to assist Operation Lone Star, an effort to stem immigration. Her decision was particularly criticized because she accepted a $1 million donation from a Tennessee billionaire to pay for part of the deployment.
Noem said she chose to send in National Guard troops “because of this invasion,” adding that “it’s a war zone.”
