Trump Taps Kristi Noem As Next DHS Secretary

President-elect Donald Trump will select Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Noem will be tapped to replace outgoing DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the Trump transition team confirmed Tuesday evening. Both Trump and Noem issued statements via a post on X celebrating the news.

“Kristi has been very strong on Border Security,” Trump stated. “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.”

The governor’s appointment to lead DHS — a massive department of hundreds of thousands of employees that make up Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other agencies — position her as a pivotal member of Trump’s upcoming immigration agenda. The president-elect has pledged to embark on ambitious border security goals that include a massive deportation program and other crackdowns on illegal immigration.

Noem will join what is already shaping up to be a hardline immigration team, with Trump tapping former ICE acting director Tom Homan to serve as “border czar” and Stephen Miller to serve as his deputy chief of staff for policy. Both men previously worked in the first Trump administration and are widely regarded as immigration enforcement hawks.

Unlike Homan or Miller, Noem will require Senate confirmation to serve her role in an official capacity. However, with the Republican Party having secured a 53-seat majority in the Senate, her nomination will likely succeed.