1 of 5 | Governor of South Dakota Kristi Noem testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing to examine her nomination to be secretary of homeland security at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Jan. 17 (UPI) — The first week of confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks concluded Friday with Department of Homeland Security nominee Kristi Noem.
The South Dakota governor warned that border security is the biggest threat to the United States, highlighting it as her top priority if confirmed to lead the department. Her hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee lasted less than three hours.
Noem was asked to give clarity about who will be making decisions about border security if Trump’s nominees are confirmed. Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., specifically wanted to know what role Tom Homan, Trump’s pick for so-called “border czar,” will play. She was unclear in her response.
“If he’s going to be making decisions then he should come before this committee as well,” Noem said.
Noem said she will be responsible for the actions taken at the border, though she added that Homan will have a “direct line” to the president as an adviser. She also said the president will be “in charge of the border.”
Asked about the Trump-era policy for family separations, Noem dismissed that there was such a policy. Instead she insisted that there was only a zero tolerance policy. She did not address family separations further at the time.
In a 2019 report, the Department of Health and Human services identified 2,737 cases of children being separated from their parents at the southern border. The report suggested there were likely thousands more cases that were unidentified.
Jeff Sessions, Trump’s attorney general when he enacted the zero-tolerance policy, told U.S. attorneys that children would be separated from their parents.
“We need to take away children. If you care about kids, don’t bring them in,” Sessions said, according to the report. “We won’t give amnesty to people with kids.”
Noem said Friday that states should oversee the resettlement of refugees while maintaining clear communication with the Department of Homeland Security. She claimed that the department did not communicate with her state about how refugees were being vetted throughout the past four years.
“In fact, they kept us in the dark and didn’t communicate to us even what states and where those refugees were being placed,” Noem said. “That is something that we need to change.”
In her opening statement, Noem said border security is her top priority.
“Border security must remain a top priority as a nation,” she said. “We have the right and the 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 is effective and that reflects our values.”
Committee chair Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was critical of the department, saying it has “lost its way,” as he opened Friday’s hearing at 9 a.m. EST.
Noem, a longtime Trump loyalist, has been among the biggest critics of the Biden administration’s handling of immigration through the southern border.
As governor, Noem dispatched members of the South Dakota National Guard to aid Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star” in 2023 and 2024.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., urged that while Noem is focused on border security, she must also be prepared to protect the United States from terrorism, noting that the Super Bowl in New Orleans is weeks away.
New Orleans was the site of a suspected terrorist attack when it hosted college football’s Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
The South Dakota governor agreed that terrorism, particularly homegrown terrorism is a concern, though she continued to emphasize that the southern border is the greatest threat to the United States.
“This is a grave concern for our country,” Noem said when responding to another question about homegrown terrorism. “The No. 1 threat to our homeland security is the southern border.”
Twenty-two government departments operate under the authority of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It employs about 260,000 employees who, if confirmed, would be under the leadership of Noem.
Some of Trump’s nominees have faced fiery hearings this week. Secretary of Defense pick Pete Hegseth received a strong pushback from Democrats for his history of partisan attacks, sexual misconduct, sexist comments and alleged drunken behavior in public.
Attorney general nominee Pam Bondi faced questions about her ability to operate independently and go against Trump if necessary. Democrats have also encouraged her to walk back her position that the 2020 election results were not legitimate, something she refused to do throughout a six-hour hearing.
Noem has not been without public incidents that have drawn considerable criticism. In her book published last year, she falsely claimed to have met North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and admitted to shooting and killing her puppy in a ditch.