Noem is a farmer, rancher, and member of theCivil Air Patrol. She has published two autobiographies,Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland (2022) andNo Going Back (2024), the latter of which sparked controversy for its account of her killing a young family dog and false claims about meeting with foreign leaders. Donald Trump nominated her for Secretary of Homeland Security in hissecond cabinet. She was confirmed in January 2025 by a Senate vote of 59–34.[5]
Early life
Noem was born Kristi Lynn Arnold to Corinne and Ron Arnold on November 30, 1971 inWatertown, South Dakota,[6] and raised with her siblings on the family ranch and farm near the town ofHazel.[7] She hasNorwegian ancestry and is a descendant of Ephraim Wilson, who fought in theAmerican Revolutionary War.[8][9] Noem was crowned South Dakota Snow Queen on January 13, 1990,[10][11] when she was a senior at Hamlin High School inHayti.
Noem attendedNorthern State University from 1990 to 1994 but did not graduate. In March 1994, her father was killed in agrain bin accident and Noem left college early to run the family farm.[12][7][13] Her daughter, Kassidy, was born weeks later, on April 21, 1994. She added ahunting lodge and restaurant to the family property. Her siblings also moved back to help expand the businesses.[7]
In 2006, Noem won a seat as a Republican in theSouth Dakota House of Representatives, representing the 6th district, comprising parts ofBeadle,Clark,Codington,Hamlin, andKingsbury counties. In 2006, she won with 39% of the vote,[18] and received $6330 in direct contributions to her campaign.[19] In 2008, she was reelected with 41% of the vote.[20]
Noem served for four years, from 2007 to 2010. She was an assistant majority leader during her second term.[21][22] During her tenure, Noem was the prime sponsor of 11 bills that became law, including several property tax reforms and two bills to increase gun rights in South Dakota.[23][24][25] In 2009, she served as vice chair of the Agriculture Land Assessment Advisory Task Force. SenatorLarry Rhoden chaired the task force, and later served as her lieutenant governor.[26] During her tenure, she joined theCivil Air Patrol as a "state legislative member".[27][28]
The 2011 House Republican 87-member freshman class elected Noem as liaison to the House Republican leadership, making her the second woman member of the House GOP leadership.[31] According toThe Hill, her role was to push the leadership to make significant cuts to federal government spending and to help SpeakerJohn Boehner manage the expectations of the freshman class.[32] In March 2011, Republican RepresentativePete Sessions of Texas named Noem one of the 12 regional directors for theNational Republican Congressional Committee during the 2012 election campaign.[7][33]
On March 8, 2011, she announced the formation of a leadershippolitical action committee, KRISTI PAC.[34] Former South DakotaLieutenant GovernorSteve Kirby is its treasurer.[35][36][37] Noem was among the top freshman Republicans in PAC fundraising in the first quarter of 2011, raising $169,000 from PACs.[38]
Abortion
Noem co-sponsored legislation that would federally ban abortion.[39] In 2015, she co-sponsored a bill to amend the14th Amendment to define human life and personhood as beginning atfertilization, federally banning abortion from the moment of fertilization. She also voted for a bill to ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.[40]
Energy and environment
Noemdenies thescientific consensus on climate change. In 2022 she said she believes "the science has been varied on it, and it hasn't been proven to me that what we're doing is affecting the climate."[41]
Noem has said that the U.S. needs an "all-of-the-above energy approach" that includes renewables like wind and ethanol while still realizing the need for a "balanced energy mix" that ends American dependence onforeign oil.[42][43][44][45]
From 2013 to 2015, Noem served on the House Armed Services Committee, where she worked on the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.[53] Her appointment to the committee was seen as a benefit to South Dakota'sEllsworth Air Force Base.[54] In March 2011, Noem was critical of PresidentBarack Obama's approach to theNATO-led military intervention in the2011 Libyan civil war, calling on him to provide more information about the U.S.'s role in the conflict, and characterizing his statements as vague and ambiguous.[55][56]
Health care
Noem opposes theAffordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has voted to repeal it.[57][58] Having unsuccessfully sought to repeal it, she sought to defund it while retaining measures such as the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, the provision allowing parents to keep their children on their health insurance plan into their 20s, and the high-risk pools.[59] Noem wanted to add such provisions to federal law as limits onmedical malpractice lawsuits and allowing patients to buy health insurance plans from other states.[59] She supported cuts toMedicaid funding proposed by Republican Budget Committee chairmanPaul Ryan. A study found that this action would reduce benefits for South Dakota Medicaid recipients by 55 percent.[44]
Immigrants and refugees
Noem supported PresidentDonald Trump's 2017Executive Order 13769, that suspended the U.S. refugee program for 120 days and banned all travel to the U.S. by nationals of sevenMuslim-majority countries for 90 days.[60] She said she supported a temporary ban on accepting refugees from "terrorist-held" areas,[61] but "did not address whether she supports other aspects of the order, which led to the detention of legal U.S. residents such as green-card holders, and people with dual citizenship as they reentered the country" in the aftermath of the order's issuance.[60]
In 2019, Noem consented to South Dakota's participation in theU.S. Refugee Resettlement Program following a Trump executive order that allowed state and local governments to opt out.[62]
In-vitro fertilization and embryonic stem-cell research
In August 2010, while running for Congress, Noem responded to a questionnaire from theChristian Coalition voter guide indicating that she would vote to ban embryonic stem-cell research.[40] In 2015, she co-sponsored legislation to amend the 14th Amendment to define human life and personhood as beginning at the moment of fertilization, without exceptions forin-vitro fertilization or embryonic stem-cell research.[40]
Taxes
In 2017, Noem was on the conference committee that negotiated the passage of theTax Cuts and Jobs Act, which she touted as giving the average South Dakota family a $1,200 tax cut.[63][64]
In 2018, Noem was reported to have "pitched the idea to members of the conservativeHouse Freedom Caucus" to attach her online sales tax bill to the government funding package as part of an omnibus. A court case under consideration in theSouth Dakota Supreme Court involved requiring "certain out-of-state retailers to collect its sales taxes." Noem said that South Dakota businesses (and by extension businesses nationwide) "could be forced to comply with 1,000 different tax structures nationwide without the tools necessary to do so", adding that her legislation "provides a necessary fix."[65]
In 2011, Noem indicated that she would vote to raise the federaldebt ceiling, but only if "tied to budget reforms that change the way we spend our dollars and how Washington, D.C., does business. It won't just be a one-time spending cut."[70] She ultimately voted for S. 365, The Budget Control Act of 2011, which allowed Obama to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts to be decided by a bipartisan committee.[71] She also said she wanted to eliminate theestate tax,[72] lower the corporate tax rate, and simplify thetax code.[7] She said she would not raise taxes to balance the budget.[73]
In November 2021, Noem announced she was running for reelection as governor.[82] State RepresentativeSteven Haugaard, a Republican, announced he was running against Noem.[83] In February 2022, House Democratic Minority LeaderJamie Smith announced he was seeking the Democratic nomination.[84]
In the Republican primary in June, Noem defeated Haugaard, 76% to 24%. In the general election, she defeated Smith, 62% to 35%. Despite predictions of a competitive race, Noem flipped 17 counties that had previously voted Democratic and set a record for the most votes received by a candidate for governor in South Dakota.
Tenure
Noem's gubernatorial portraits during her first (left) and second (right) term
Noem was sworn in as South Dakota governor on January 5, 2019. She is the first woman to hold that office.[85]
In 2019, Noem signed bills restricting abortion, saying they would "crack down on abortion providers in South Dakota" and that a "strong and growing body of medical research provides evidence that unborn babies can feel, think, and recognize sounds in the womb. These are people, they must be given the same basic dignities as anyone else."[89]
Following theoverturning ofRoe v. Wade, South Dakota became one of the first states to enacttrigger laws banning abortions.[90] Noem defended South Dakota's abortion ban, which only allows exceptions in cases in which the mother's life is in danger. When asked aboutthe case of the 10-year-old child abuse victim who traveled from Ohio to Indiana to receive an abortion, Noem said she would not support changing the law to allow exceptions for rape victims, explaining that she did not "believe a tragic situation should be perpetuated by another tragedy".[90]
Noem proclaimed 2024 the "Freedom for Life Year", promoting anti-abortion laws.[91] In April 2024, she announced that she had reversed her support for a federal ban on abortion, saying she believed abortion law should be determined at the state level, and continued to support South Dakota's law banning abortion except to save the life of the pregnant patient, without exceptions for rape or incest.[92]
Early childhood education
Noem is a vocal opponent of subsidized child care. Her administration rejected $7.5 million in federal funding for free summer meal programs for low-income residents and defeated multiple attempts to provide school lunches for eligible students. In 2023, Noem said, "I just don't think it's the government's job to pay or to raise people's children for them".[93]
Access to public records
While running for governor in 2018, Noem made government transparency part of her platform.[94][95] In her first State of the State address she pledged to "work toward building the most transparent administration South Dakota has ever seen".[96][97]
Throughout her tenure, news outlets and government transparency advocates sued Noem for failing to provide the transparency she advocated.[98][99] Complaints included denial of immediate access to a state-funded report about the alleged presence ofcritical race theory and "divisive concepts" in South Dakota schools;[100][101][102] denial of access to pardon records;[98] not releasing the cost of the governor's security team;[103][104] whipping votes against a bill to make public records of the cost of the governor's security;[103][105] and attempts to seal records on an ethics investigation involving her daughter.[106]
Anti-protest legislation
In response to protests against theKeystone Pipeline, Noem's office collaborated with the energy companyTransCanada Corporation to develop anti-protest legislation, which Noem signed into law in 2019. The law created a fund to cover the costs of policing pipeline protests. Another law was passed to raise revenue for the fund by creatingcivil penalties for advising, directing, or encouraging participation in rioting. ThePine Ridge Indian Reservation banned Noem from their grounds as a result. TheIndigenous Environmental Network,Sierra Club, and other groups challenged the laws in suits, arguing that they violatedFirst Amendment rights by incentivizing the state to sue protesters.[107] In 2020, after a federal court struck down sections of the legislation as unconstitutional, Noem brought legislation to repeal sections of the previous bill and clarify the definition of "incitement to riot".[108]
China
Noem has called China "an enemy" of the U.S.[109] In 2022, she issued an order banningTikTok from state-owned devices, saying the "Chinese Communist Party uses information it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people".[110] In 2023, she signed an order prohibiting the downloading or use of any application or visiting of any site owned by the Chinese companyTencent, includingWeChat, on state-owned devices.[111] In 2024, she signed a bill prohibiting the governments of six countries—China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela—and entities from those countries from buying agricultural land in South Dakota.[112]
Conflict of interest action to professionally benefit daughter
In 2020, after Noem's 26-year-old daughter,[113] Kassidy Peters, was denied a real estate appraisal license, Noem summoned to her office Sherry Bren, a state employee who had directed South Dakota's Appraiser Certification Program for 30 years.[114] Attendees included Peters, Noem's chief of staff Tony Venhuizen,[115] Department of Labor Attorney Amber Mulder and Labor Secretary Marcia Hultman.[116]
By telephone, the group was joined by the governor's general counsel, Tom Hart, and a lawyer from the state's Department of Labor and Regulation, Graham Oey.[114] A week later, Hultman demanded Bren's resignation. Bren repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, tried to resolve the issues short of resigning, eventually filing an age discrimination complaint.[114] She received a $200,000 settlement as part of a nondisclosure agreement to withdraw her complaint and leave her position.[117] Noem's spokesperson characterized the allegations as an example of how Noem cut through "bureaucratic red tape".[114]
After theAssociated Press published a story about the incident, theState Senate's Government Operations and Audit Committee was delegated to investigate.[118] In October 2021, the Committee invited Hultman and Bren to come before it to discuss the appraisal program in light of the controversy.[119][120] On December 14, 2021, Bren testified before the Government Operations and Audit Committee.[116] She said that Peters received an Agreed Disposition around March/April 2020. Around July 20, 2020, Peters received a letter and/or Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law when she failed to meet the requirements of the Agreed Disposition. Bren said that on July 26, Department of Labor attorney Amber Mulder told her to be prepared to discuss "what is the definition of a serious deficiency; what criteria do you use for denials; how many are denied each year; how many are approved; are we saying that Kassidy can take certain classes and resubmit".[116]
Bren said she felt "very nervous" and "intimidated" when meeting with Noem and attorneys and Labor Secretary Hultman.[121] Bren mentioned during the meeting at themansion some appraisal classes that she thought would be helpful to Peters. Bren said that Noem was upset that she was just now hearing about the classes. Bren testified that the decision to depart from recognized upgrade procedures and offer a third opportunity would be Hultman's. Bren said this was beyond the recognized procedures and "not normal."[116]
On November 1, 2021, the Government Accountability Board set an agenda to discuss this issue and another issue based on complaints brought by Ravnsborg.[122] On December 15, 2021, the Government Accountability Board referred one of the two complaints to Noem for a response and sent the other back to the complainant for further information.[123] On February 3, 2022, the Government Accountability Board referred the second complaint to Noem for a response and gave her until April 15, 2022, to answer both pending complaints.[124][125]
On February 24, 2022, Republican State RepresentativeJohn Mills introduced House Resolution 7004, "Addressing the Governor's unacceptable actions in matters related to the appraiser certification program", against Noem.[126] On March 1, the resolution was debated and failed by a margin of 29 to 38 with three excused, including Noem's primary opponentSteven Haugaard and U.S. House candidateTaffy Howard.[127]
The tribes took action after demanding that Noem apologize for her comments about them.[130] In January 2024, Noem said that an "invasion is coming over the southern border" of the United States, and the "enemy is the Mexican drug cartels", which are "perpetrating violence in each of our states, even here in South Dakota ... The cartels are using our reservations to facilitate the spread of drugs throughout the Midwest."[131] In March 2024, Noem said there were "some tribal leaders that I believe are personally benefiting from the cartels being there", but gave no evidence, and that there were people "who actually live in those situations, who call me and text me every day and say, 'Please, dear governor, please come help us inPine Ridge. We are scared.'"[132][133] She added: "they live with 80% to 90% unemployment. Their kids don't have any hope. They don't have parents who show up and help them."[130]
Around January 2025, Noem apologized to the tribes for the misunderstanding between them, and the Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe dissolved its order banning Noem from its land.[134] The tribe said, "the Governor has shown us that she is committed to protecting the people of South Dakota including the citizens of the nine Tribal Nations, who share mutual borders with the state", and expressed its support for her nomination as the Secretary of Homeland Security.[134]
COVID-19 pandemic
During theCOVID-19 pandemic in South Dakota, Noem initially supported some containment measures before adopting a largely hands‑off approach.[135][136] In November 2020, she used pandemic relief funds to promote tourism during a surge in cases.[137] She was one of few governors who did not maintain statewidestay-at-home orders or mask mandates; her response broadly mirrored Donald Trump’s approach, and she was given a speaking slot at the2020 Republican National Convention, which raised her national profile.[138][139][140][141][142][143]
Early in the pandemic, Noem asked the legislature to give the state health secretary and county officials authority to close businesses; the House rejected the bill.[135][136] On March 13, 2020, she ordered K‑12 schools to close, and on April 6 she extended that order for the rest of the school year; she also directed businesses and local governments to follow CDC social‑distancing guidance.[144][145]
Noem emphasized South Dakota's role in evaluatinghydroxychloroquine, which was later found to be ineffective against COVID‑19 and to cause fatal cardiacarrhythmia.[146][147]
In early 2020, one of the largest COVIDoutbreaks in the US occurred in South Dakota.[148] TheSmithfield Foods plant inSioux Falls reported four deaths and nearly 1,300 infections among workers and family members.[149]Secretary of Health and Human ServicesAlex Azar told legislators that infections were likely due to workers' "home and social" habits; on April 13, Noem said, "We believe that 99 percent of what's going on today wasn't happening inside" the plant.[150] The Food Safety and Inspection Service initially did not give inspectors PPE and discouraged masks. It later permitted and then supplied them.[150] Noem said the plant was operating as an essential facility;[151] 48 workers were hospitalized.[152]
COVID cases rose sharply after the 2020Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, in which Noem participated; hospitalizations reached a then‑record 355 on October 22 (75 in ICUs). Health systems postponed elective procedures and urged masking;Sioux Falls MayorPaul TenHaken told residents, "Wear a dang mask."[155][156][154]
Sixteen weeks after Trump's 2020 executive order providing a $300 weekly unemployment supplement, Noem declined the money, citing low unemployment; South Dakota was the only state to do so.[157][158] The jobless rate in June was 7.2%, up from 3.1% in March and down from 11% in April.[152]
From 2020 to 2021, the following events took place:
In September 2020, amid a surge of new cases, Noem announced $5 million of relief funding for a state tourism campaign,[137] including $819,000 for a 30‑secondFox News commercial narrated during the RNC.[161]
Also in September 2020, over 550 students were infected at South Dakota universities; 200 more cases were reported inK–12 schools.[152]
In October 2020, as South Dakota recorded one of the highest per‑capita case rates and hospitals prioritized severe cases, Noem attributed higher case numbers to increased testing, despite rising positivity and hospitalizations.[162]
In February 2021, Noem signed a bill limiting civil liability for certain COVID‑19 exposures, exempting businesses (including PPE sellers) unless exposure resulted from gross negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct.[163]
Also in February 2021, she opposed a bill prohibiting schools and universities from requiring student vaccinations; in May she signed an order barring government facilities from requiring proof of vaccination for services, calling such requirements "un‑American".[164][165]
In August 2021, Noem opposed legislation proposed by Republican legislatorsJon Hansen andScott Odenbach to prohibit businesses from requiring vaccinations as a condition of employment.[166]
In July 2021, she criticized other Republican governors for enacting mandatory measures and "rewriting history", arguing that South Dakota had addressed the pandemic by testing and isolating cases; at the time, the state had a high per‑capita death and case rate.[167]
Department of Corrections
In July 2021, Noem placed Secretary of theDepartment of Corrections Mike Liedholt on administrative leave, and firedSouth Dakota State Penitentiary Warden Darin Young and Deputy Warden Jennifer Dreiske, after receiving an anonymous note with complaints regarding pay, medical coverage and instances of sexual harassment.[168][169] Liedholt later announced his retirement.[170] Later that month, after meeting with prison employees, despite lingering COVID-19 cases, Noem ended the prison's mask mandate.[171]
In August 2021, Noem announced that the CGL Group, a California-based company, was hired for $166,410 to comprehensively review the Department of Corrections operations.[172] At the same time, the director of the prison work program was fired, and two other DOC employees relieved of their duties.
The prison work program director, Stephany Bawek, subsequently filed a complaint with theU.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), alleging that she was retaliated against for reporting sexual harassment by Young.[173] On March 14, 2022, Bawek filed a lawsuit in federal district court alleging that she was fired for reporting incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace.[174][175]
Deployment of South Dakota National Guard to southern border (2021)
In June 2021, Noem announced that she was sending members of theSouth Dakota National Guard to Texas's border with Mexico.[176] Tennessee billionaireWillis Johnson said he would donate the money necessary for the deployment.[177] On September 22, 2021, theCenter for Public Integrity sued the South Dakota National Guard and the U.S. Department of Defense in the federal district court in the District of Columbia to obtain documents about the deployment and the donation.[178] The2022 National Defense Authorization Act banned National Guard members from crossing state borders to perform duties paid for by private donors.[179]
Fireworks at Mount Rushmore lawsuit (2021)
In 2021, Noem sued U.S. Secretary of the InteriorDeb Haaland, seeking to have fireworks atMount Rushmore forIndependence Day. Fireworks displays had been halted at the site in 2009 by theNational Park Service due to fire risks and other reasons.[180][181] Noem hired the private Washington D.C. law firm Consovoy McCarthy to bring the case, with South Dakota state taxpayer money paying for the suit.[182] The U.S. District Court dismissed the suit, with JudgeRoberto Lange finding that four of the five reasons given by the NPS and Secretary Haaland were valid.[183] On July 13, Noem filed an appeal with the8th Circuit Court of Appeals.[184]
On March 14, 2022, the National Park Service again denied Noem's application for a permit to have fireworks at Mount Rushmore for the 4th of July, citing opposition from Native American groups and the possibility of wildfires.[185]
Governor's mansion spending
In May 2019, Noem proposed to build a fence around the governor's mansion, estimated to cost approximately $400,000, but retracted the proposal.[186][187] In 2020, the 2019 project was revived; a senior Noem advisor told the media that the decision was based on the recommendations of Noem's security team.[188] In late November 2021, it was reported that Noem spent $68,000 of taxpayer dollars on imported rugs from India, chandeliers and a sauna for the mansion.[189]
Guns
Noem visiting U.S. troops during the 2019 Golden Coyote Exercise at Rapid City, S.D., June 2019
In 2019, Noem signed a bill into law abolishing South Dakota's permit requirement to carry a concealed handgun.[190][191][192] In 2022, she sought to build a gun range inMeade County with government funds, but the legislature rejected it.[193][194][195]
At a 2023NRA forum in Indiana, Noem said that her two-year-old granddaughter had a shotgun, a rifle, and a "little pony named Sparkles".[196]
LGBTQ rights
Noem opposessame-sex marriage. In 2015, she said she disagreed withObergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court's ruling that same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional.[197]
On March 8, 2021, Noem announced on Twitter that she would sign into law H.B. 1217, theWomen's Fairness in Sports Bill,[198] which banstransgender athletes from playing on or against women's school and college sports teams. Some critics of the bill said they were worried it might turn away business and cost the state money.[199] On March 19, Noem issued a style and form veto to H.B. 1217 that substantially altered the bill, not just correcting grammar and spelling mistakes.[200] She defended her position onTucker Carlson Tonight.[201]
On March 29, theSouth Dakota House rejected Noem's veto, 67–2.[202] The bill was returned to Noem for reconsideration, and she vetoed it again.[203] The House failed to override her veto, by a vote of 45–24. 47 votes were needed to override.[204] Many conservative commentators criticized Noem for vetoing the bill.[205][206]
In December 2021, Noem and her office signaled their support for a bill called "An Act to Protect Fairness in women's sports." The bill would require young athletes to join teams that align with their sex assigned at birth.[207]
In 2021, Noem signed a religious refusal bill into law. The legislation amended thestate RFRA to allow business owners to cite religious beliefs as a basis to deny products or services to people based on sexual orientation or gender identity.[208] The legislation, S.B. 124, was criticized by civil rights groups who said it would enable discrimination againstLGBTQ+ people, women, and members of minority faiths.[209][210] This bill was the first major state RFRA law signed into law in six years, and resembles the 2015 bill signed into law by Indiana GovernorMike Pence.[211]
"Meth. We're on It" campaign
On November 18, 2019, Noem released ameth awareness campaign named "Meth. We're on It". The campaign was widely mocked and Noem was criticized for spending $449,000 ofpublic funds while hiring an out-of-state advertising agency from Minnesota to lead the project.[212] She defended the campaign as successful in raising awareness.[213]
Opposition to cannabis legalization
In 2020, Noem opposed two ballot measures to legalize cannabis formedical use andrecreational use in South Dakota,[214] saying, "The fact is, I've never met someone who got smarter from smoking pot. It's not good for our kids. And it's not going to improve our communities."[215] After both measures passed, she and two police officers filed a lawsuit seeking a court decision against the measure legalizing recreational use,Amendment A.[216][217]
On February 8, 2021, circuit court judge Christina Klinger struck down the amendment as unconstitutional.[218] After the ruling, she also sought to delay the implementation of the medical marijuana initiative for a year.[219] Ultimately, her efforts failed and medical marijuana became legal on July 1, 2021.[220]
Noem has opposed the cultivation ofindustrial hemp, vetoing a bill that passed the South Dakota House and Senate in 2019 to legalize hemp cultivation. She said, "There is no question in my mind that normalizing hemp, like legalizing medical marijuana, is part of a larger strategy to undermine enforcement of the drug laws and make legalized marijuana inevitable."[221]
RV park in Custer State Park proposal
In 2022, Noem sought to locate a government-paid RV park in Custer State Park.[222] The proposal was met with significant opposition to include government competing with private business and disturbing the pristine nature of the park.[223] The House Agricultural and Natural Resources deferred the bill to the 41st day, effectively killing it, by a vote of 9–3.
School prayer bill
In 2022, Noem sought to haveprayer put back in school after mentioning it in a speech in Iowa. On January 21, 2022, the "prayer bill", HB 1015, was defeated in the House Education Committee by a vote of 9–6. An aide to Noem admitted to the committee that no schools were consulted about the proposal.[224][225]
Staff
On November 19, 2021, Noem named her fifth chief of staff, Mark Miller, to replace outgoing chief of staff Aaron Scheibe.[226] Scheibe served as chief of staff from May 1 to November 19, 2021. Tony Venhuizen preceded Scheibe from March 2, 2020, to April 23, 2021. Josh Shields preceded Venhuizen from October 1, 2019, to January 1, 2020. Herb Jones was Noem's first chief of staff, and served from January 5 to October 1, 2019.[227][228][229][230]
Trade
In February 2019, she said that theTrump administration's trade wars withChina and theEuropean Union had devastated South Dakota's economy, particularly the agricultural sector, "by far" the state's largest industry.[231]
Supplemental income from political donations
In 2023, while serving as South Dakota's governor, Noem funneled $80,000 in fees from a nonprofit, American Resolve Policy Fund,[232][233] into her personal company. She failed to disclose this payment in her federal ethics filings upon joining DHS, which ethics experts say violates disclosure rules.[234]
After resigning as governor of South Dakota,[240] Noem was sworn in on January 25, 2025, bySupreme Court JusticeClarence Thomas as Secretary of Homeland Security, with Louisiana GovernorJeff Landry holding the Bible.[241]
In the early morning of January 28, Noem joined multiple federal law enforcement agencies, includingUnited States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to lead a raid on undocumented immigrants inNew York City. Her department posted a video of the raid onX that showed an apparent arrest.[242]
Noem meeting withKarol Nawrocki in Jasionka, Poland, May 27, 2025
One of Noem's first acts in office was to rescind an 18-month extension oftemporary protected status for about 600,000 Venezuelans who had fledNicolás Maduro's authoritarian regime.[246] In March, she revoked legal protections for 532,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who had settled in the U.S. since 2022.[247]
In February, CNN hostDana Bash interviewed Noem about the new administration's policies and the Department of Homeland Security, including the use ofGuantanamo Bay to detain migrants, which Noem said would be temporary.[248] Noem also told Bash that she was comfortable with theDepartment of Government Efficiency (DOGE) having access to sensitive data, saying that it was identifying waste, fraud, and abuse.[249] She added, "information he [Elon Musk] has is looking at programs, not focusing on personal data and information."[250][248]
In April,The Washington Post reported that Noem and actingSocial Security Administration commissionerLeland Dudek had instructed the Social Security Administration to falsely list over 6,000 living immigrants in its database of dead people.[251]
On the evening of April 20, 2025, Noem's purse was stolen from a D.C. burger restaurant. The purse[252] contained important items, like her government access badge,[253] apartment keys,[254] $2,000–3,000 in cash,[255][256] her passport, and blank checks. The incident raised various concerns, including about her Secret Service detail presence.[252][256]
The Trump administration has claimed that around 140,000 people had been deported as of April 2025, though some estimates put the number at roughly half that.[257]
During a May 20 Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on the Department of Homeland Security's budget for fiscal year 2026, Noem incorrectly definedhabeas corpus as "a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country" in response to a question from SenatorMaggie Hassan.[258][259] In actuality,habeas corpus is the constitutional right for a detainee to request that a court review the lawfulness of their detention, which would require the government to justify the detention.[258][260] After being corrected on the definition, Noem said that the American president "has the authority under the Constitution to" choose to suspendhabeas corpus. In fact, the constitutional clause on the suspension ofhabeas corpus, which reads "Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it", is inArticle One of the United States Constitution on the powers of Congress, notArticle Two of the United States Constitution on the powers of the executive branch.[260]
Noem meeting with Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Israel, May 25, 2025Decertification letter sent by Noem on May 22, 2025
During a news conference in Los Angeles on June 12, Noem failed to recognize the senior U.S. Senator from California,Alex Padilla, who was present at the news conference. When Padilla attempted to ask Noem a question, he was forcibly removed from the room, pushed to the ground, and handcuffed by FBI and Secret Service agents.[263]
In June 2025, ProPublica reported that Noem failed to disclose past income from a dark money group in her federal ethics filings upon joining DHS, which ethics experts say violates disclosure rules.[234] In November, ProPublica announced that a firm tied to Noem had received $200 million in DHS ad contracts during thegovernment shutdown. The firm, Strategy Group, has multiple ties with Noem and her political career.[264]
Noem has been nicknamed "ICEBarbie" because of her frequentphoto ops with ICE at its raids.[265][266]
In August 2025, Noem announced that 1.6 millionunauthorized immigrants had left the United States since January of that year.[267]
Deportation of U.S. service members and veterans
During a December 12, 2025, committee hearing, U.S. RepresentativeSeth Magaziner asked Noem how many U.S. veterans DHS had deported. She replied that they had not deported any. He then showed, viaZoom,Purple Heart recipient and green-card holder Sae Joon Park, who had been deported under her administration. Magaziner said Park had "sacrificed more for this country than most people ever have."[268][269]
Park legally immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea when he was 7, grew up in Los Angeles and theSan Fernando Valley, and enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduating from Notre Dame High School inSherman Oaks in 1988.[270] He was deployed to Panama in 1989 during Operation Just Cause and wounded by enemy gunfire. After leaving the Army, Park suffered from PTSD, and his family's business burned to the ground during the1992 Los Angeles riots. He moved to Hawaii and in 2009 was arrested for attempting to buy cocaine.[271] Federal authorities allowed Park to stay in the U.S. as long as he made regular check-ins, which he did until June 2025,[271] when he was told to self-deport or be deported by DHS officials.[270] DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Park had an "extensive criminal history" and had been given a final removal order, with the option to self-deport. RepresentativeDelia Ramirez has since called for Noem to resign or be impeached due to her statements to Congress and wants a Congressional investigation into possible violations.[271]
Impeachment proceedings
On January 14, 2026, RepresentativeRobin Kelly introduced threearticles of impeachment against Noem. She alleged Noem hadobstructed congressional oversight of ICE facilities; violated public trust regarding arrests and the use of force; and engaged inself-dealing by awarding the contract for a $200 million taxpayer-funded recruitment campaign to the husband ofTricia McLaughlin. As of the filing, 70 representatives had signaled their support for the proceedings.[272][273]
In 2020, the Trump-Pence ticket carried South Dakota, receiving 261,043 votes to 150,471 for the Biden-Harris ticket.[279][280] Noem was initially designated to be one of Trump's threepresidential electors for South Dakota,[281] but later withdrew.
Noem has claimed that the2020 presidential election, in which Biden defeated Trump, was marred by widespread voter fraud; no evidence supports this claim.[282] On December 8, 2020, Noem tacitly acknowledged the outcome of the election when she referred to a "Biden administration" during her annual state budget address, but even after Biden was inaugurated in January, she still refused to accept that the election was "free and fair".[283][284][285]
After theU.S. Capitol was attacked by a pro-Trump mob on January 6, 2021, disrupting thecounting of the electoral votes formalizing Biden's victory, Noem spoke out against the violence, saying: "We are all entitled to peacefully protest. Violence is not a part of that."[286][287] One day after calling for peace and reconciliation in the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol, Noem called the two newly elected Democratic senators from Georgia,Jon Ossoff andRaphael Warnock, "communists" in an op-ed forThe Federalist, prompting criticism from South Dakota Democrats.[288]
During Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, commentators suggested that Noem was a potential running mate for Trump.[293] In September 2023, when asked onNewsmax if she would agree to serve as Trump's running mate, Noem responded that she would "in a heartbeat".[294] At the February 2024CPAC conference, Noem tied withVivek Ramaswamy as attendees' top choice for Trump's running mate, with each receiving 15% of the vote in a straw poll.[295][296] Also that month, Trump acknowledged that Noem was one of the names on his shortlist to be his running mate.[297] In March 2024,CNN reported that Noem was one of four people Trump had shown increased interest in selecting as his running mate.[298]
In April 2024, insiders said that her odds of being selected as Trump's running mate had waned due to her stance onabortion and the revelation in her bookNo Going Back that she shot and killed her pet dog and a goat.[299][300][301] It was noted that "additions, subtractions and the emergence of dark-horse candidates remain possible", but on June 5,NBC News reported that Noem was no longer on Trump's shortlist of running mates.[302]
Personal life
She married Bryon Noem in 1992, in Watertown, South Dakota.[303] They have three children. In 2011, when Noem moved to Washington, D.C. to take her congressional office, her family continued to live on a ranch nearCastlewood, South Dakota.[303]
In September 2021, conservative media outletAmerican Greatness reported that Noem was having an extramarital affair with political operativeCorey Lewandowski.[307][308] Noem called the report a "disgusting lie", saying, "these old, tired attacks on conservative women are based on a falsehood that we can't achieve anything without a man's help."[309][310][311] In September 2023, theNew York Post and theDaily Mail published similar reports about Noem and Lewandowski, which Noem's spokesman denied.[312][313] In September 2025,New York reported that the romantic relationship between Noem and Lewandowski is ongoing, and that Lewandowski plays a significant role in running the Department of Homeland Security, acting as Noem's "de facto chief of staff".[314]
In March 2024, Noem shared a video in which she identified herself as the South Dakota governor and promoted a cosmetic dentist business that she said helped her after she lost her front teeth in a biking accident years before: "I love my new family at Smile Texas!"[315] Noem has since become one of the most prominent examples of so-called "Mar-a-Lago face", a cosmetic surgery trend among conservative women,[316][317] also known as "Republican makeup".[318]
In April 2024, pre-release excerpts of Noem's second autobiography,No Going Back, received broad criticism and condemnation.[319] In a chapter titled "Bad Day to Be a Goat",[320][321] Noem recounts that she brought her family's 14-month-old femalewirehaired pointer, Cricket, along for apheasant hunt with guests at her family's hunting lodge.[322] Expecting Cricket to emulate the older, trained, dogs on the hunt,[320][323] Noem instead felt that Cricket ruined the hunt by "chasing all those birds and having the time of her life".[322][320] After the dog killed several chickens on the same day, Noem decided Cricket was "dangerous" and "untrainable", and shot the dog dead in agravel pit.[320][324] Noem then killed her family's male goat, which she said was "disgusting, musky, rancid".[320][325][326]
Noem initially responded that "tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm", and subsequently said the incident occurred 20 years ago, and that "the fake news ... put the worst spin" on the story, as Cricket was a "working dog" that "came to us from a family who had found her way too aggressive ... a responsible owner does what they need to do".[327][321][328] The story led to bipartisan criticism of Noem and doubt about the likelihood of her selection as Trump'svice presidential running mate intensified.[329][330] A fundraising dinner for Noem in Colorado scheduled for May 4 was canceled after the group and the hotel hosting the event receiveddeath threats.[331]
Later in the memoir, Noem wrote of imagining herself becoming president in 2025, taking over from Biden, and that the first thing she would do would be to "make sure Joe Biden's dog was nowhere on the grounds ('Commander, say hello to Cricket for me')", in an apparent suggestion that Commander be killed.[332][333] Months earlier, Commander had been moved out of the White House after having bitten Secret Service agents and others on over a dozen occasions. In an interview, Noem said that Biden was "accountable" and called for Biden to "make a decision" on "what to do" about Commander.[334][335]
Noem also wrote, "I remember when I met with North Korean dictatorKim Jong Un. I'm sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I'd been a children's pastor, after all). Dealing with foreign leaders takes resolve, preparation, and determination."[336] Her spokesperson said the claim was an error and would be expunged from the book's future editions.[337] Noem claimed in the book that she was once "slated to meet with French presidentEmmanuel Macron", but called off the meeting because he made a "very pro-Hamas and anti-Israel comment to the press"; the French government responded that it had neither invited Noem nor had any record of a scheduled meeting with her.[338]
The Washington Post's literary criticRon Charles wrote that the "description of Cricket's Last Stand is the one time in this howlingly dull book that Noem demonstrates any sense of setting, character, plot and emotional honesty. Otherwise, it's mostly a hodgepodge of worn chestnuts and conservative maxims".[339]
^Bolton, Alexander (January 1, 2011)."A new order: House power players to watch in the 112th Congress".The Hill. Capitol Hill Publishing Corp.Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. RetrievedMarch 13, 2011.Noem and Scott ... will give the freshman class a voice in GOP leadership meetings and will press their leaders to take immediate steps to cut government spending significantly. Boehner and other House leaders will also rely on Noem and Scott to manage the expectations of the freshman class.
^"Noem wants to expand offshore energy production".KEVN-LD. March 31, 2011. Archived fromthe original on October 3, 2011. RetrievedApril 5, 2011.The bills would end the Obama administration's moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and require the re-opening of sales on oil leases in the Gulf and off the coast of Virginia.
^abWoster, Kevin (March 20, 2011)."Rough road ahead in Congress for Johnson wilderness plan".Rapid City Journal.Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. RetrievedMarch 20, 2011.Noem made opposition to Johnson's wilderness plan one of her prominent campaign points last year in her race against incumbent Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, a Democrat.
^abKing, Ryan; Marino, Joe (April 21, 2025)."Kristi Noem's purse, with $3K cash inside, snatched by thief during outing at DC restaurant".New York Post. RetrievedApril 22, 2025.Noem's bag also contained her driver's license, passport, DHS badge, makeup, checks, bank card, healthcare card, medication, and apartment keys… A Gucci B large shoulder bag… available for $4,400… had a Louis Vuitton Clemence Purse inside, which sells for $600… Secret Service provides security for the secretary… It was unclear whether the detail was inside the restaurant
^abOberg, Ted; Leslie, Katie (April 21, 2025)."Kristi Noem has purse stolen from DC restaurant with Secret Service nearby".WRC-TV. RetrievedApril 22, 2025.Noem was out to dinner with her children and grandchildren on Easter when her bag with between $2,000 and $3,000 cash […] Secret Service […] isn't saying how it happened or who the suspect is […] suspect was able to sit at the table next to Noem's, slide her purse toward him with his foot and walk out […]
^Mercer, Bob (December 13, 2020)."Lederman in, Noem out as S.D. Trump elector".KELO-TV.Archived from the original on December 25, 2020. RetrievedJanuary 5, 2021.The governor's communications director, Ian Fury, didn't respond to questions Saturday from KELOLAND News about what led to Lederman's substitution for her.
^"Kristi Noem". Department of Homeland Security. January 25, 2025. RetrievedJanuary 28, 2025.
^Gonzalez, Pedro (September 28, 2021)."Kristi Noem Shows Why Republicans Can't Have Nice Things".American Greatness. Center forAmerican Greatness. RetrievedJanuary 20, 2026.Exclusive: Sources reveal the South Dakota governor and potential 2024 VP candidate is having an extramarital affair with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
^Fugleberg, Jeremy (October 11, 2021)."How the Noem-Lewandowski rumors became news".The Duluth News-Tribune. Vol. 2 No. 68. Duluth, Minnesota: Neal Ronquist. Forum News Service. p. 4. RetrievedJanuary 20, 2026.If Noem hadn't gone on record denying those rumors, we wouldn't have reported it. But once she did, we did.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Kristi Noem (Incumbent)
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
.jpg)
.jpg)
