South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, the nominee for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, said that if confirmed, she would be ready to protect the country against terrorist threats and carry out President-elect Donald Trump’s mandate from the American people to secure the border.
Noem, a two-term Republican governor known for her advocacy for border security, appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Jan. 17.
“Border security must remain a top priority. As a nation, we have the right and responsibility to secure our borders against those who would do us harm. And we must create a fair and lawful immigration system that is efficient and effective and reflects our values,” she said.
Noam appeared to face little opposition during the hearing, with Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) suggesting a vote on her confirmation could come as soon as Monday.
Noem said stopping what she said was an invasion of illegal immigration and crime at the U.S. southern border is a top priority, along with deporting criminals staying in the country unlawfully while restoring public trust in the agency.
Committee Republicans portrayed the department she hopes to lead as a rouge agency with “unchecked power” that curtails free speech and labels U.S. citizens as domestic terrorists for political dissent—instead of targeting real threats such as ISIS terrorist group, illegal immigration, and crime.
Their questions revolved around how she would bring accountability back to the agency.
Meanwhile, Democrats questioned Noem about whether she would politicize who gets disaster aid and whether her loyalties lie with the U.S. Constitution or Trump.
Other questions from Democrats surrounded beefing up border personnel along the northern U.S. border, providing FEMA aid to California wildfire victims, and recognizing threats from extremist and racist groups.
Here are five key takeaways from the hearing:
1. Border Security and Crime
Noem said she would shut down the U.S. Customs and Border Protection CBP One app used by illegal immigrants to enter the country “on day one” if confirmed.Her answer was in response to a question from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who complained those using the phone app weren’t even asked if they were seeking asylum or to provide evidence substantiating their claim.
Noem said the app’s data would be retained as a record of who came into the country and to determine “who we need to go find,” suggesting it will be used for Trump’s mass deportation plan.
Noem said illegal immigrant crimes carried out against U.S. citizens would also be a focus for the Trump administration. She said there were 425,000 illegal immigrants with criminal convictions that need to be deported “right away.”
“A big one beyond that, [Trump’s] next priority is going to be those with final removal orders,” she said.
Noem said she would stop mass parole under the Biden administration’s Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) program and return to considering people on a case-by-case basis.
Under CHNV, people whose immigration would otherwise be considered illegal are flown into the United States.
Noem acknowledged holding discussions with Trump to reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy he used to curtail illegal immigration during his first term.
The Homeland Security committee passed a resolution along party lines asserting on Jan. 16 that Trump, as president, had the power to secure the border with Remain in Mexico.
It’s unclear if Trump could reinstate Remain in Mexico without an agreement with the Mexican government.
2. FEMA and Natural Disasters
Some of the most pointed questions from Democrats during the hearing surrounded how Noem would carry out the agency’s response to natural disasters such as the California wildfires.Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) accused Trump of refusing to give California Gov. Gavin Newsom disaster relief dollars to “put out fires” for political reasons.
“The specter is there of potential discrimination based on politics withholding money from California or other states,” Blumenthal said.
In response aimed at California’s leaders, Noem said, “Leadership has consequences.”
Blumenthal asked if she would go along with Trump if he decided to block relief funds from governors he doesn’t like.
Noem countered that such scenarios were hypothetical and that she would not allow politics to cloud the agency’s mission.
She pointed to FEMA’s response to historic North Carolina flooding under the Biden administration, which some critics said was too little, too late. Some said the response was dissatisfactory due to political reasons because those in the hardest-hit areas were mainly Trump voters.
3. Terrorism
Noem said that securing the southern border would go a long way in stopping terrorists from slipping into the country. She noted that under the Biden administration, 382 illegal immigrants on the terrorist watch list were allowed into the country—something she would work to stop if confirmed.Noem said that working with other federal agencies, such as the Department of Defense and Secretary of State, to coordinate information and responses to threats from outside and inside the country would be beneficial.
4. Cyber Security
Noem noted the growing concern of cyber security threats from China, noting they hacked into the Treasury Department last month, stealing potentially thousands of unclassified documents.“Salt typhoon was a campaign of espionage by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) against our telecoms, where large amounts of data were stolen,” she said.
Governments on all levels—federal, state, and local—need to be vigilant about protecting their data by using updated cyber security measures, she said.
Noem also addresses the controversy surrounding the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), indicating that it may be downsized. CISA is an agency within DHS originally intended to protect pipelines and other critical infrastructure from cyberattacks.
A Congressional investigation accused CISA of expanding its mission to surveil and censor Americans’ speech on social media.
She noted that using government resources against U.S. citizens was “far off” its mission.
“CISA needs to be much more effective, smaller, more nimble, to really fulfill their mission, which is to hunt and to help harden our nation’s critical infrastructure,” Noem said.
5. Secret Service
Noem said the Secret Service is another agency that needed reform.Two attempts against Trump’s life during his presidential campaign in 2024 “should never happen again,” she said.
Noem pointed out that the American public no longer trusts the federal government and that she will work to restore that lost confidence.
She said new leadership is needed at the Secret Service to refocus it on its twin missions of protecting government leaders and investigating.
“They should be focused on making sure we’re addressing national security events,” she said.
