Trump To Nominate South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem As DHS Secretary: Reports

President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) as homeland security secretary, according to CNN and The Wall Street Journal.

Noem along with Stephen Miller, who was named White House deputy chief of staff for policy, and Tom Homan, who will serve as Trump’s “border czar,” are expected to play a key role in executing the president-elect’s agenda on immigration, including his mass deportation plan.

Her nomination was first reported by CNN early Tuesday. The position requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Noem, a staunch Trump ally, was rumored to be on his vice-presidential short list but she reportedly hurt her chances by admitting to killing one of her dogs in her memoir “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward.” The book excerpt was first reported by the Guardian.

Noem wrote that Cricket, her 14-month-old wirehair pointer was “untrainable” and had an “aggressive personality,” prompting her to shoot the animal in a gravel pit.

The Republican governor said the story was proof she is prepared to take action to carry out anything that needs to be done no matter how “difficult, messy and ugly” it may be.

At one point Noem was thought to be a likely 2024 GOP presidential contender. In November 2022 she told The New York Times that Trump did not offer “the best chance” for the party in the next presidential election, but ended up endorsing him less than a year later, becoming one of the first Republican governors to do so.

Noem has also previously dodged questions on whether she would have certified the results of the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021, if she were in then-Vice President Mike Pence’s shoes.

Noem was first elected governor of South Dakota in 2018. She was reelected to a second term in 2022 after securing 62% of the vote. She rose to national prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic for speaking out against health care restrictions, including by rejecting face mask mandates. Noem won’t be able to run for reelection in 2026 due to term limits.

Noem is barred from setting foot in 20% of her state’s land after all nine Indigenous tribes in South Dakota have banned her in response to her offensive claims about Native people who reside in the state.