WASHINGTON − A Senate committee is questioning Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to run the Department of Homeland Security, an agency that will be central to fulfilling his campaign promise to perform mass deportations of unauthorized immigrants.
Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota, was on Trump’s vice-presidential shortlist before he named her to run the sprawling, $108 billion DHS. She was a member of Congress during Trump’s first administration and is an outspoken advocate for border security and tax cuts.
Trump is expected to formally nominate Noem shortly after taking office Jan. 20.
Noem is the only prospective Trump cabinet member with a hearing on Friday. Senate committees have so far heard from nine top appointments, including Pete Hegseth (Defense), Pam Bondi (Justice), Scott Bessent (Treasury), Marco Rubio (State), and John Ratcliffe (CIA). All appear headed for confirmation.
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Noem pledges to share info about Trump assassination attempts
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., asked whether Noem would share information about the Secret Service’s failures in the two assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump if she is confirmed as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Hawley said the agency refused to provide documents or make staffers available for interviews.
FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump is assisted by the Secret Service after gunfire rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 13, 2024.
“We were stymied at every turn by the current Secret Service leadership,” Hawley said. “It’s unbelievable.”
Noem said she would share information with lawmakers to prevent future attacks.
“I will work with you to get the information so that you have the truth of really what happened there and the failures so that they can be fixed,” Noem said.
−Bart Jansen
Noem supports new technology along southern border
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asked Noem what technology she supported to investigate southbound traffic, to seize the guns and cash that fuel trafficking and violence along the border.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on her nomination to be Secretary of Homeland Security, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 17, 2025.
Noem, Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security, said more wall needs to be built along the southern border and more technology is needed at legal ports of entry so people can move efficiently north and south. She supported scanners, surveillance equipment and the use of satellites in areas where transportation is difficult.
“You have to have the resources to be successful,” Noem said. She supported technology “that allows us to know what is going south that might be fueling some of the violence that ends up coming back north and ensuring that we’re stopping that before it has the chance to supply the cartels and bad actors that come in.”
−Bart Jansen
Cyber agency went ‘off mission’ by taking on disinformation, Noem says
After the Treasury Department reported it had been infiltrated by Chinese hackers, Kristi Noem, Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security said the agency must focus on protecting against cyber attacks.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is part of the department.
More: Treasury Department hack shows no signs of broader impact, says US cyber watchdog
“The mission of it is to hunt and harden,” Noem said. “It’s to find those bad actors and work with local and state critical infrastructure entities so that they can help them be prepared for such cyber attacks and make sure that they are hardening their systems.”
But she said CISA has gotten far off mission.
“The misinformation and disinformation that they have stuck their toe into and meddled with should be refocused back on what their job is,” Noem said.
−Bart Jansen
Noem: Secret Service ‘in serious need of reform’
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said the Secret Service must be reformed after the failures of two assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump.
Secret Service leaders have acknowledged failures to prevent Trump from getting shot in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and to have a gunman waiting for him at his Florida golf course. The agency has taken a number of steps to improve training and operations.
“As secretary, I will oversee the Secret Service, an agency that is in serious need of reform,” Noem said. “We all saw the threats to President-elect Trump last year – and the consequences of failure. That should never happen again.”
−Bart Jansen
Noem is asked about homegrown terrorism
Sen. Peters asked Noem about countering militants who’ve been “radicalized here in the U.S. with the intent of terrorizing our communities.” She agreed that “homegrown terrorism is on the rise,” while cautioning that Americans’ civil liberties must be protected.
But Noem also shifted focus back to the southern border and said 382 “known terrorists” had been allowed to cross into the U.S. from Mexico. According to DHS, 382 people whose names appear on a terrorist watch list were arrested trying to cross the border between 2021 adn 2024, up from 11 between 2017 and 2020.
Noem cites familiarity with FEMA from SD disasters
In her opening statement, Noem said she worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on 12 natural disasters in her state so she would be familiar leading the Department of Homeland security responding to “floods, tornados, blizzards, wildfires, a derecho, and even a global pandemic.”
“As Secretary, I will enhance our emergency preparedness and strengthen FEMA’s capabilities,” Noem said. “We will ensure that no community is left behind and that life-saving services like electricity and water are quickly restored.”
−Bart Jansen
Noem calls border security ‘a top priority’
Noem said securing the country’s borders against illegal trafficking and immigration will be a top priority.
“Border security must remain a top priority,” Noem said. “As a nation, we have the right and responsibility to secure our borders against those who would do us harm.”
She said the country “must create a fair and lawful immigration system that is efficient and effective.”
−Bart Jansen
Thune praises Noem’s ‘absolute toughness’ to lead DHS
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., introduced Noem, his state’s governor, by saying her “absolute toughness” is required to lead the Department of Homeland Security and toughen security along the southern border.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is sworn in during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on her nomination to be Secretary of Homeland Security, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 17, 2025.
Thune argued Noem’s “tremendous persistence and energy” would enable her to combat the “chaos on the southern border” and fight drug trafficking.
“I think she brings things to this job that are absolutely essential,” Thune said.
The Dakotas are well represented at the top of Washington this year. In addition to Thune’s leadership at the Senate and Noem’s expected confirmation at Homeland Security, President-elect Donald Trump has named former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to lead the Interior Department.
−Bart Jansen
Peters: DHS needs ‘strong, stable and principled leadership’
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., the comittee’s top Democrat, said Noem would “need strong, stable and principled leadership” to oversee the sprawling Department of Homeland Security with 240,000 workers and an annual budget of more than $100 billion.
He urged her to focus on the northern border in addition to the southern border, while working to streamline the immigration system and asylum process.
Peters said she must also protect the country from attacks like ones recently in New Orleans and Las Vegas on New Year’s Day, and cyber attacks from China and other foreign adversaries.
−Bart Jansen
Noem hearing begins with criticism of Biden’s DHS
Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., opens Kristi Noem’s hearing with a litany of complaints about the department she may soon command, saying DHS has been distracted from its core duties of protecting the U.S. by intruding on the constitutional rights of Americans and policing their speech.
House Republicans voted to impeach the outgoing Homemand Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, last February but the Senate, then under Democratic control, killed both impeachment articles.
Homeland security secretary nominee Kristi Noem arrives to meet U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 11, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Immigration, fentanyl – and that hunting dog? Questions await Kristi Noem
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem may not have to answer for her dead hunting dog Cricket at her confirmation hearing Wednesday. But President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Homeland Security will likely face tough questions about how she intends to run one of the nation’s largest and most sensitive federal agencies.
A small group of protesters gathers in rain and lightning in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in May, 2024, as South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem speaks at a local hotel.
If confirmed by the Senate, Noem would be at the center of Trump’s effort to make good on campaign promises to shut down the border, prevent illegal immigrants from crossing from Mexico and Canada, and stop the flood of lethal fentanyl into the U.S.
As overseer of DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Noem would play a critical role in Trump’s much-touted plans to deport potentially tens of millions of people living without authorization in the U.S.
Noem made headlines last year for writing in her 2024 autobiography “No Going Back” that she shot her 14-month-old wirehaired pointer because it was “untrainable,” attacked livestock and tried to bite her. The backlash may have cost her a shot at the vice-presidency.
−Josh Meyer
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Who is Kristi Noem?
Prior to starting her government career, Noem worked on her family’s farm in rural South Dakota. She served in the state legislature for four years, and was elected to Congress in 2010, during the midterm election under then-President Barack Obama when the Tea Party movement swept the nation.
Noem won the governor’s race in 2018 on a small-government platform. She is an outspoken advocate of border security and has sent three different cohorts of the South Dakota National Guard to serve on the Texas-Mexico border for Operation Lone Star.
−Erin Mansfield
More: Kristi Noem, key to Trump’s immigration agenda, faces senators in confirmation hearing
What is the Department of Homeland Security?
The Department of Homeland Security is the umbrella agency for 22 departments and about 260,000 employees. Its departments handle border security, immigration detention, citizenship processing, airport security, and natural disasters, among other things.
President Joe Biden’s current secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, has been a frequent target of Republican criticism for the administration’s handling of unlawful crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
−Erin Mansfield
More: How Trump’s top administration picks reflect broad geographic diversity
Will Kristi Noem be confirmed?
While some of Trump’s nominees have faced controversy or bowed out of the confirmation process, Noem has been well received.
Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican who heads the committee that will hold her hearing, told a podcast in December, “My first order of business will be getting her confirmed, and I plan on trying to do that either the day of the inauguration, or that week.”
−Erin Mansfield
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What time is Kristi Noem’s confirmation hearing?
The hearing with the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee starts at 9 a.m. It will be held in the Senate Dirksen Building, room SD-342, in Washington, D.C. USA TODAY will post a livestream link here when it becomes available.
−Erin Mansfield
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kristi Noem hearing live updates: Trump’s DHS pick faces the Senate
