South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, President-elect Trump's pick for a job central to his vision of cracking down on illegal immigration—including mass deportations—faced senators Friday at a confirmation hearing, promising to be a tough hand in carrying out the president's policies at the sprawling Department of Homeland Security. Noem, a two-term governor and former congresswoman, would replace outgoing Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who was so vilified by Republicans over the number of migrants crossing the country's southern border that they impeached him in early 2024, the AP reports.
Major issues Noem was questioned about included:
- Immigration: The Republican governor pledged a complete turn from Mayorkas' policies, saying she was determined to carry out Trump's plans to stop illegal immigration and deport millions of migrants. She committed to ending CBP One, a phone app the Democratic Biden administration has used to process asylum-seekers' entry into the country. She also pledged to scale back the use of humanitarian parole, curtail the use of temporary immigration relief for migrants from countries experiencing unrest, and reinstate a Trump-era policy of requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in US immigration court.
- California wildfires and FEMA: Asked to clarify whether she would stand up to Trump if he asked her to withhold disaster relief money from certain states, Noem avoided saying she would defy the president. "I will deliver the programs according to the law and that it will be done with no political bias," she said. "Every American deserves to be there and have disaster relief, the same as their neighbors," Noem added. She pointed to her experience as governor responding to natural disasters, saying it was important to ensure "no community is left behind."
- Protecting the president: The Secret Service falls under the purview of Homeland Security and has been under intense scrutiny since the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania. The agency has a branch that focuses on financial crimes, but Noem said agents need to focus on their primary protective duties, per the AP. "The Secret Service is in need of dramatic reforms," she said. Noem said that the Secret Service is understaffed and that she plans to refocus it on a core mission of "addressing national security events" and protecting high-level officials.
- Why she'd want the job: Noem acknowledged that her nomination as DHS secretary was "a bit of surprise" to many but said she asked for the job because "it was the president's No. 1 priority." Her supporters on the committee said that Noem's background of growing up on a farm and governing a rural state would give her the skills needed to implement Trump's plans; Democrats questioned whether she is qualified to lead a department crucial to the country's safety. "I knew that it needed to have someone in the position that would do what the president promised the American people," Noem said.
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