The department that the South Dakota governor seeks to lead will be critical to fulfilling the incoming administration’s promises to quickly crack down on immigration.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Donald Trump's pick to lead the agency central to his vision of cracking down on illegal immigration, faced senators Friday at a confirmation hearing and promised to be a tough hand in carrying out the president's vision for the sprawling Department of Homeland Security.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Homeland Security, speaks with Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for her confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President-elect Donald Trump was taken aback by the firestorm against South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) after she crowed about gunning down a 14-month wirehaired pointer named Cricket in her book

So far, Kristi Noem appears to have strong backing from GOP senators who will be crucial to her confirmation as head of the Department of Homeland Security.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem told lawmakers that she intends to end the use of the CBP One on the first day the Trump administration.

Gov. Kristi Noem has ordered that the state's flags — which have been flying at half-staff since the death of President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29 — be raised Monday to honor the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Kristi Noem, the firebrand South Dakota governor is set to go before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs for her confirmation hearing to be the Secretary of Homeland Security. Noem, the daughter of a farmer, is a former Congresswoman from South Dakota who ran for Governor in 2018.

Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), vowed at her Senate confirmation hearing to lead a crackdown on immigration by securing the "war zone" at the US-Mexico border and deporting unauthorised migrants.

Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) is expected to cruise through the process to confirmation after surviving a fairly quiet hearing that lasted less than three hours.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s advancement to the cusp of confirmation as a Trump cabinet secretary probably surprised some people who thought her career ended nine months ago with a notoriously disastrous book release.