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The Senate confirmed Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary on Saturday, putting the South Dakota governor in charge of a sprawling agency that is essential to national security and President Donald Trump’s plans to clamp down on illegal immigration.
Republicans kept the Senate working Saturday to install the latest member of Trump’s national security team on a 59-34 vote.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was also confirmed in a dramatic tie-breaking vote Friday night, joining Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The Senate will next vote Monday evening on Scott Bessent’s confirmation as treasury secretary.
Noem, a Trump ally who is in her second term as governor, received seven votes from Democrats. Republicans, who already held the votes necessary to confirm her, have expressed confidence in her determination to lead border security and immigration enforcement.
In a statement afterward, she pledged “to secure our southern border and fix our broken immigration system” while working to “detect and prevent terror threats and will deliver rapid assistance and disaster relief to Americans in crisis.”
The homeland security secretary oversees U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Citizenship and Immigration Services. Beyond those agencies, the department is also responsible for securing airline transportation, protecting dignitaries, responding to natural disasters and more.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Friday that “fixing this crisis and restoring respect for the rule of law is one of President Trump and Republicans’ top priorities. And it’s going to require a decisive and committed leader” at the department.
Democrats are split on how to handle border enforcement and immigration under Trump, with some warming to his hard-line stand.
Still, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, as well as most other Democrats, voted against Noem. He pointed to “bipartisan solutions to fix the mess at our border,” adding that Noem “seems headed in the wrong direction.”
Trump is planning major changes to how the department functions, including involving the military in immigration enforcement and reshaping the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Those plans will immediately put Noem in the spotlight after the new president visited recent disaster sites in North Carolina and California on Friday.
During her Senate hearing, Noem was repeatedly asked by Democratic senators whether she would administer disaster aid to states even if Trump asked her not to.
Noem avoided saying she would defy the president, but told lawmakers, “I will deliver the programs according to the law and that it will be done with no political bias.”