Executive Summary
On 25 January 2025, Kristi Noem was confirmed by the US Congress as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), following her nomination by President Donald Trump. A career politician hailing from rural South Dakota, she has a long history of controversy over her dealings with Native American communities and false claims in her book, No Going Back released on 7 May 2024.
Noem’s confirmation signals a shift at DHS toward hardline immigration policies, continued controversies, and a refocusing of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Noem will likely continue to emphasize and echo rhetoric that frames immigration as a grave threat to the US. Her confirmation, largely driven by ideals shared with President Trump, will help fuel ongoing political tensions in the U.S.
Profile
Early Life
Kristi Noem was born on 30 November 1971 in Watertown, South Dakota. She grew up on a farm and is one of four children. In her senior year at Hamlin High School, in 1990, she won the title Snow Queen at the South Dakota Snow Queen. She said it was her “first opportunity to sit in an interview, to speak in public.”
She attended Northern State University (NSU) from 1990 to 1992, the year she married Bryon Noem. The two met in high school and both attended NSU, where Bryon ultimately earned a degree in finance. She and Bryon now have 3 children–Kassidy, Kennedy, and Booker. Noem dropped out of college after her father died to take over the family farm; her younger brother was still in high school and her older siblings left the state.
Political Career
Once her siblings moved back, Kristi Noem entered politics. In 2006, she was elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives and took office in 2007. In 2010, she ran for South Dakota’s singular US House of Representatives seat, and won. By this time, she was also running an insurance agency. She took office in 2011, and was known for her efforts to limit the power of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She won reelection to the House three times and finished her BA in 2011 while serving.
In 2016, she won the United States House of Representatives At-Large race in South Dakota. She then ran for governor of South Dakota and won in the 2018 general election. In 2019, Noem was sworn in as the first woman to hold the post. During her first term as South Dakota governor, she notably refused to close small businesses or impose the mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In her second term, one of her top campaign issues was abortion. She supported the South Dakota trigger law banning all abortions in the state, except cases in which the pregnancy threatened the mother’s life. During her time as governor, she released two memoirs. Native American tribes from the state barred her from reservations. Due to frequent disagreements with tribal leaders, and her accusations of them being involved with Mexican cartels.
Kristi Noem was confirmed in her position as DHS Secretary on 25 January 2025. Simultaneously, she also resigned as South Dakota Governor. Her hobbies are hunting, raising cattle, and horses.
Images Sourced From: U.S. Army Reserve photo by Spc. Jamaal Turner, @Sec_Noem on Twitter