Report: Trump tabs South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem for Homeland Security secretary

Marcus Traxler, The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·2 min read

Nov. 12—President-elect Donald Trump has picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, CNN reported on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

The position involves overseeing federal public safety, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The department also operates the U.S. Coast Guard during peacetime.

Noem was a frequent and vocal Trump supporter throughout his election campaign and was regularly seen on the trail in recent weeks. She was also at Trump's election night watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Noem, 52, has been the state's governor since 2019 following her election in 2018. She served in Congress as the state's lone U.S. representative from 2011 to 2019.

If Noem departs the governor's role, Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden would be in line to become the state's 34th governor. Rhoden, a rancher from Union Center, has been lieutenant governor during Noem's nearly six full years in office.

Rhoden, 65, served in the South Dakota Legislature for 16 years across three stints between the House and Senate.

According to South Dakota legislator and former Noem chief of staff Tony Venhuizen's

SoDak Governors blog

, only one South Dakotan has previously served in a president's cabinet. Clinton P. Anderson served as U.S. secretary of agriculture from 1945 to 1948, during the administration of President Harry S. Truman. In 1978, Gov. Richard Kneip resigned to accept an appointment from President Jimmy Carter as U.S. ambassador to Singapore.

The appointment will be an important one for Trump to carry out his campaign promises and his expected domestic agenda as president when he is inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2025.

Trump announced on Sunday he will appoint Tom Homan as "border czar" in his administration as Trump seeks to carry out his campaign commitment of mass deportations of immigrants who lack permanent legal status.

Homan is the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the previous Trump administration who backed the controversial "zero tolerance" policy that separated families at the southern border.

"The department saw an immense amount of turmoil the last time Trump was in office," said the CNN report from Kaitlan Collins. "Then, DHS had five different leaders, only two of whom were Senate-confirmed. The agency has a $60 billion budget and hundreds of thousands of employees."

Noem was once viewed as a potential running mate for Trump. But those aspirations were damaged in April by Noem's own story in her memoir about shooting and killing her 14-month-old dog Cricket because she was misbehaving and was "less than worthless ... as a hunting dog."