South Dakota’s Kristi Noem tapped to head Trump’s DHS

"I am pleased to announce that the Governor and former Congresswoman from South Dakota, Kristi Noem, will be appointed to serve as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)," said Trump in a statement. "Kristi has been very strong on Border Security. She was the first Governor to send National Guard Soldiers to help Texas fight the Biden Border Crisis, and they were sent a total of eight times. She will work closely with “Border Czar” Tom Homan to secure the Border, and will guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries. I have known Kristi for years, and have worked with her on a wide variety of projects - She will be a great part of our mission to Make America Safe Again.

"Governor Kristi Noem issued the following statement: 'I am honored and humbled that President Donald J. Trump has selected me to be the Secretary of Homeland Security. I look forward to working with Border Czar Tom Homan to make America SAFE again. With Donald Trump, we will secure the Border, and restore safety to American communities so that families will again have the opportunity to pursue The American Dream.'"

DHS has a budget of some $60 billion and hundreds of thousands of employees, CNN reports. In her position, Noem will manage US Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the US Secret Service, among others. During her career in public service, Noem has backed Trump's ban on admitting refugees from nations that are controlled by terrorists and cannot or do not vet visa applicants well enough to ensure that those persons are not affiliated with terrorists, or are terrorists themselves.

"I share the President's concerns about our ability to screen refugees—especially those from terrorist hotbed areas. I support putting a temporary pause on accepting refugees from terrorist-held areas—at least until the administration can certify that asylum-seekers do not present a safety threat to the U.S.," she said at the time.

As the Biden-Harris administration flooded the nation with illegal immigrants, Noem said outright that South Dakota would not be welcoming and "won't be taking any illegal immigrants." She also supported Texas Governor Greg Abbott when he sought to close the border into Texas against the Biden-Harris administration's wishes.

Noem has been governor since 2019 and was the first woman elected to the position. Prior to her sevice as governor, she was in the US House from 2011-2019 and in the South Dakota House before that.

Noem was one of the early governors to ban boys and men from playing girls and women's sports in her state. She came under fire for it, but said that it was an important measure to make sure girls could compete fairly in athletics. Noem said the bill was to make sure "that girls will always have the opportunity to play in girls sports in South Dakota and have an opportunity for a level playing field, for fairness, that gives them the chance to experience success."

Though she initially vetoed a similar proposal that she said would not pass legal muster, she pushed through the ban in 2022. Trump has also promised to impose this ban, which he could do by reversing some of Biden's earliest executive orders on the subject. Noem also banned child sex changes in her state.