South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem had her confirmation hearing on Friday as nominee for Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. DHS oversees many agencies/departments, including FEMA, the TSA, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Secret Service, as well as all the immigration departments, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Senate Homeland Security Chair Rand Paul (R-KY) said that the DHS mission had been "deeply distorted" and had "lost its way," and he hoped Noem would be able to bring change. The ranking member, Gary Peters (D-MI), raised concerns about terrorism and cyberattacks as well as the problems of the Northern border, in addition to the Southern border.
Noem spoke in her opening statement about how securing the country was a "sacred trust."
Being safe within our borders is an American right, yet Americans feel less safe than they have in decades. For the first time in 30 years, more than 40% of Americans are afraid to walk alone at night within a mile of their home," Noem is expected to tell the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Friday morning in her opening remarks.
President-Elect Trump is going to change that.
She's immediately going to end a lot of the awful things that Biden and DHS head Mayorkas brought in.
The hearing was largely cordial. I have to say it was refreshing that everyone concentrated on the issues and not on the politics. This is definitely a committee with its head screwed on right. Ranking Member Peters said they, as a committee, wanted to move away from rancor and politics. So, I give them props for a well-handled hearing.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) asked if she would stand up to the president if he said he to withhold money to places like California. She said Trump would uphold the Constitution and she would apply the law without bias.
Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) asked a good question about how Tom Homan fits into the equation, since he's going to be the border czar. She said that she would be in charge of all the DHS agencies, Homan would be advising the president, and the president would be in charge of the border.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) did a little comparison with Mayorkas. This was gold.
Paul asked if she would be looking into the people in DHS who may have been involved with media censorship — to hold people accountable. She said she would work with them on that.
One of the biggest problems the committee outlined was the lack of transparency and the failure of the Biden administration to turn over information to them. Noem generally promised to be transparent and not follow that failed path.
Yes, the wall is going to be finished as well.
LANKFORD: "Will you use the funds given to you by Congress to actually build more wall rather than use the funding that's given to you to, as the Biden admin did, to do environmental remediation around the border?"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 17, 2025
NOEM: "President Trump has been clear that he wants to build the… pic.twitter.com/hl4deABF7n
It looks like Noem isn't likely to have any trouble being confirmed if this hearing is any indication.
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