South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem will be the nation’s next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security after the U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination Saturday.

The 53-year-old Noem, a former congresswoman, will lead one of the federal government’s largest departments, with 260,000 employees and a budget in excess of $100 billion. Its responsibilities include border protection, disaster response, cyber and airline security, and protecting dignitaries.

The bipartisan vote to confirm Noem was 59-34, with her fellow South Dakota Republicans, Majority Leader John Thune and Sen. Mike Rounds, casting two of the votes in favor.

Speaking against Noem’s confirmation on the Senate floor, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, warned that the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants Noem could carry out on behalf of President Donald Trump will harm the nation’s economy. Among the industries most affected, Durbin said, could be one of vital importance to Noem’s home state: agriculture.

“In many instances, they will be removing the very workers that pick the crop,” Durbin said.

Speaking in favor of Noem, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the United States is a nation of immigrants, but “we’re also a nation based on the rule of law, and we have not seen that immigration law enforced over the last four years.”

“So I’m going to be voting for Governor Noem, because she’s committed to enforcing our immigration laws,” Grassley said.

SD’s lieutenant governor elevated

Noem ascends to the Homeland Security post after serving as South Dakota’s first female governor. She was serving her second four-year term after being reelected in 2022.

Noem will resign from that job and be succeeded by her lieutenant governor, Republican Larry Rhoden, who will become the state’s 34th chief executive and fill the remainder of Noem’s term through 2026. Rhoden will choose a new lieutenant governor, subject to confirmation by the South Dakota Legislature, which is in the midst of its annual lawmaking session.

Noem’s Saturday confirmation vote capped a rise into national prominence that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her decision as governor to avoid ordering widespread shutdowns in South Dakota caught Trump’s attention during his first term, and he accepted Noem’s invitation to a Fourth of July weekend fireworks display at Mount Rushmore in 2020. That helped cement a relationship Noem had begun with Trump while she served as a four-term member of the U.S. House from 2011 to 2019.

Noem was widely thought to be in consideration for Trump’s running mate last year, until her April book release abruptly ended that speculation.

The Guardian obtained an advance copy of the book, “No Going Back,” and revealed passages Noem wrote about fatally shooting a misbehaving hunting dog and an unruly goat. The Dakota Scout, a South Dakota media outlet, challenged Noem’s claim in the book that she had met North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, and she retracted it.

Noem faced withering scrutiny during a national book tour and became the butt of jokes on late-night television. Yet, less than three months later, she had a prime speaking slot during the Republican National Convention. Shortly after Trump’s election win in November, he announced Noem as his pick to lead Homeland Security.

Noem’s role in border issues

While serving as governor, Noem sent National Guard troops multiple times to assist Texas in securing its border with Mexico, and called a joint session of the Legislature to deliver a speech about the border. In her new role as Homeland Security secretary, Noem will be pivotal in carrying out Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Noem appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs last week for her confirmation hearing. She said “border security must remain a top priority.”

“As a nation, 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 a lawful immigration system that is efficient and is effective and that reflects our values,” Noem said.

Trump kick-started his immigration plan shortly after he took office Monday.

In part of a barrage of executive orders this week, Trump moved to end birthright citizenship in the United States. But on Thursday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the plan, which was met with a flurry of legal challenges.

Trump also declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, and earlier this week, the Pentagon said it would immediately send 1,500 active duty troops to secure the area.

Noem is the fourth of Trump’s Cabinet nominees to earn Senate confirmation, after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau contributed to this report.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: [email protected].