Kristi Noem successfully passed 50 votes in the GOP-controlled Senate to become the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on Saturday, placing the Republican governor in charge of President Donald Trump’s plans to curtail illegal immigration.
The upper chamber voted 59–34 to confirm Noem midday Saturday, followed by a vote to advance Trump’s Treasury secretary nominee, Scott Bessent.
The vote comes after all Republican senators, joined by eight Democrats, broke a filibuster on the South Dakota governor’s cabinet nomination Friday night. The Democratic senators who voted to end the debate were John Fetterman (Pa.), Tim Kaine (Va.), Andy Kim (N.J.), Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Gary Peters (Mich.), and Jeanne Shaheen of (N.H.).
Noem will now lead the department that oversees Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Secret Service, and other federal agencies. She could help reshape the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which Trump suggested eliminating while visiting the still-ravaged disaster sites in North Carolina and Los Angeles, Calif.
Her first priority, however, is to secure the nation’s borders alongside border czar Tom Homan, who has been giving interviews about the progress that immigration authorities have made during Trumps’ first week back in office.
ICE has arrested nearly 600 illegal immigrants as of Friday, four days after Trump took office. Homans says arrests and raids will increase in the coming days and weeks, as the new administration gets its mass deportation operation in full swing. Mass deportation flights have already begun.
Over 1.4 million immigrants residing in the U.S. illegally will be prioritized for deportations in the beginning of Trump’s second term.
“Fixing this crisis and restoring respect for the rule of law is one of President Trump and Republicans’ top priorities,” Senate majority leader John Thune (R., S.D.) said in support of Noem on Friday. “And it’s going to require a decisive and committed leader at the Department of Homeland Security. I believe Kristi has everything it takes to undertake this task.”
During her Senate confirmation hearing last week, Noem called the southern border a “war zone” and promised to provide Border Patrol agents the resources they need to crack down on the record flow of illegal immigration into the U.S. under the Biden administration. She considers border security a “top priority” for the Trump administration.
Noem also vowed to end the controversial CBP One mobile app that allowed asylum seekers to register for U.S. entry on “day one.” The administration followed through on her pledge, shutting down the app soon after Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
The two-term governor has been a strong advocate for border security and immigration enforcement in the past. She previously deployed National Guard troops from South Dakota to the southern border over the past four years to assist Texas in Operation Lone Star, a program designed to deter illegal border crossings.
Noem is the fourth Trump appointee to be confirmed so far. The Senate has already confirmed three other cabinet nominees: Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, John Ratcliffe as CIA director, and Marco Rubio as secretary of state.