CNN
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The Senate voted Saturday morning to confirm Kristi Noem as President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security, poised to play a central role in the president’s promised immigration crackdown. installed a longtime Trump ally at the helm of the agency.
The vote was bipartisan, 59-34, and Noem was sworn in later Saturday.
NOEM has served as the Governor of South Dakota since 2019 and is a former four-term state legislator. She will now be in charge of Homeland Security, the vast division that oversees agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Secret Service.
In a statement after Saturday’s vote, Noem said she would prioritize securing the southern border and fixing “our broken immigration system.”
“I work every day to keep all Americans safe and secure. One of my top priorities is to secure our southern border and fix our broken immigration system. to accomplish President Trump’s mission,” Noem’s statement said.
“The Trump Administration will empower the brave men and women of law enforcement, one at a time, to do their job and rid our country of criminal aliens and illegal gangs,” she continued. .
Trump began his second term by declaring a national emergency at the U.S. southern border and taking a series of sweeping immigration enforcement actions, including kicking off the process to end birthright citizenship. I started.
In addition to immigration, NOEM addressed a variety of other issues during the confirmation hearings. In response to questions from Democrats, she said there is “no political bias” when it comes to disaster relief and that her leadership focused on domestic terrorism, saying “homegrown terrorism is on the rise.” He said it must be done. called the deadly New Year’s truck attack in New Orleans a “terrible event.”
Noem’s national profile has grown during the Covid-19 pandemic. She rejects mask mandates and social distancing and was once considered a potential running mate for Trump to win back the White House.
But Noem found herself embroiled in controversy last year after the publication of an excerpt from a book in which she revealed that the dog had shot and killed the family’s dog, a 14-month-old wire-haired pointer, in a gravel pit. I noticed. “Untrainable” and “Dangerous to anyone she came into contact with.”
Noem defended her actions, claiming those anecdotes were meant to show how she could do more gruesome jobs in life if she wanted.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry posted a photo of Noem being sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Saturday. J.D. Vance’s office told reporters the vice president did not participate “due to a scheduling conflict.”
This story has been updated with new reporting.
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez, Eric Bradner and Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.
