The department that the South Dakota governor seeks to lead will be critical to fulfilling the incoming administration’s promises to quickly crack down on immigration.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Homeland Security, speaks with Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for her confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President-elect Donald Trump was taken aback by the firestorm against South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) after she crowed about gunning down a 14-month wirehaired pointer named Cricket in her book

Gov. Kristi Noem has ordered that the state's flags — which have been flying at half-staff since the death of President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29 — be raised Monday to honor the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

So far, Kristi Noem appears to have strong backing from GOP senators who will be crucial to her confirmation as head of the Department of Homeland Security.

Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), vowed at her Senate confirmation hearing to lead a crackdown on immigration by securing the "war zone" at the US-Mexico border and deporting unauthorised migrants.

Trump supporters love her. But the South Dakota governor will likely be asked about family separation at the border - and the dog she says she shot.

One tribe in South Dakota is lifting its order banning Gov. Kristi Noem from its territories. The Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe's decision comes just days before the Republican was set to appear before a U.

Kristi Noem pressed on whether she would stand up to Trump during confirmation hearing: Live updates - Controversial South Dakota Republican appears before Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs C

Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) is expected to cruise through the process to confirmation after surviving a fairly quiet hearing that lasted less than three hours.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s advancement to the cusp of confirmation as a Trump cabinet secretary probably surprised some people who thought her career ended nine months ago with a notoriously disastrous book release.