Born inWatertown, South Dakota, Noem began her political career in theSouth Dakota House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011. Noem was elected as the first female governor of South Dakota in 2018 with the endorsement of PresidentDonald Trump. She gained national attention during theCOVID-19 pandemic for opposing statewidemask mandates and advocating voluntary measures. Noem hasconservative positions on most domestic issues, particularly gun rights, abortion, and immigration.
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 inaccurate 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.[3]
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.[8][5][9] 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.[5]
Noem served for four years, from 2007 to 2010. She was an assistant majority leader during her second term.[16][17] 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.[18][19][20] 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.[21] During her tenure, she joined theCivil Air Patrol as a "state legislative member".[22][23] She holds the rank oflieutenant colonel.[citation needed]
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.[26] 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.[27] 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.[5][28]
On March 8, 2011, she announced the formation of a leadershippolitical action committee, KRISTI PAC.[29] Former South DakotaLieutenant GovernorSteve Kirby is its treasurer.[30][31][32] Noem was among the top freshman Republicans in PAC fundraising in the first quarter of 2011, raising $169,000 from PACs.[33]
Abortion
Noem co-sponsored legislation that would federally ban abortion.[34] 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.[35]
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."[36]
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.[37][38][39][40]
From 2013 to 2015, Noem served on the House Armed Services Committee, where she worked on the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.[48] Her appointment to the committee was seen as a benefit to South Dakota'sEllsworth Air Force Base.[49] 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.[50][51]
Health care
Noem opposes theAffordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has voted to repeal it.[52][53] 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.[54] 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.[54] 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.[39]
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.[55] She said she supported a temporary ban on accepting refugees from "terrorist-held" areas,[56] 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.[55]
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.[57]
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.[35] 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 for in-vitro fertilization or embryonic stem-cell research.[35]
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.[58][59]
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."[60]
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."[65] 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.[66] She also said she wanted to eliminate theestate tax,[67] lower the corporate tax rate, and simplify thetax code.[5] She said she would not raise taxes to balance the budget.[68]
In November 2021, Noem announced she was running for reelection as governor.[77] State RepresentativeSteven Haugaard, a Republican, announced he was running against Noem.[78] In February 2022, House Democratic Minority LeaderJamie Smith announced he was seeking the Democratic nomination.[79]
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 was sworn in as governor on January 5, 2019, the first woman in that office in the state.[80]
Noem's gubernatorial portraits during her first (left) and second (right) term
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."[84]
Following theoverturning ofRoe v. Wade, South Dakota became one of the first states to enacttrigger laws banning abortions.[85] 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".[85]
Noem proclaimed 2024 the "Freedom for Life Year", promoting anti-abortion laws.[86] 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.[87]
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".[88]
Access to public records
While running for governor in 2018, Noem made government transparency part of her platform.[89][90] In her first State of the State address she pledged to "work toward building the most transparent administration South Dakota has ever seen".[91][92]
Throughout her tenure, news outlets and government transparency advocates sued Noem for failing to provide the transparency she advocated.[93][94] 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;[95][96][97] denial of access to pardon records;[93] not releasing the cost of the governor's security team;[98][99] whipping votes against a bill to make public records of the cost of the governor's security;[98][100] and attempts to seal records on an ethics investigation involving her daughter.[101]
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.[102] 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".[103]
China
Noem has called China "an enemy" of the U.S.[104] 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".[105] 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.[106] 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.[107]
Conflict of interest action to professionally benefit daughter
In 2020, after Noem's 26-year-old daughter,[108] 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.[109] Attendees included Peters, Noem's chief of staff Tony Venhuizen,[110] Department of Labor Attorney Amber Mulder and Labor Secretary Marcia Hultman.[111]
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.[109] 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.[109] She received a $200,000 settlement as part of a nondisclosure agreement to withdraw her complaint and leave her position.[112] Noem's spokesperson characterized the allegations as an example of how Noem cut through "bureaucratic red tape".[109]
After theAssociated Press published a story about the incident, theState Senate's Government Operations and Audit Committee was delegated to investigate.[113] In October 2021, the Committee invited Hultman and Bren to come before it to discuss the appraisal program in light of the controversy.[114][115] On December 14, 2021, Bren testified before the Government Operations and Audit Committee.[111] 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".[111]
Bren said she felt "very nervous" and "intimidated" when meeting with Noem and attorneys and Labor Secretary Hultman.[116] Bren mentioned during the meeting at the mansion 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."[111]
On November 1, 2021, the Government Accountability Board set an agenda to discuss this issue and another issue based on complaints brought by Ravnsborg.[117] 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.[118] 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.[119][120]
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.[121] 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.[122]
The tribes took action after demanding that Noem apologize for her comments about them.[125] 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."[126] 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.'"[127][128] 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."[125]
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.[129] 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.[129]
COVID-19 pandemic
During theCOVID-19 pandemic in South Dakota, Noem was at first open to containment strategies.[130][131] Over the following months, she segued to a hands-off approach. In November 2020, Noem used pandemic relief funds to promote tourism during a surge in cases in the state.[132] She did not implement face mask mandates, raised doubts about the efficacy of mask-wearing, encouraged large gatherings without social distancing or mask-wearing, and questioned public health experts' advice.[133][134]
As of December 2020, Noem was one of few governors who had not maintained statewidestay-at-home orders or face-mask mandates.[135][136] Her response mirrored Trump's rhetoric and handling of COVID-19.[134][137] She was rewarded for her COVID-19 response with a speech at the August2020 Republican National Convention, which elevated her national profile.[137][138] TheArgus Leader called the RNC speech a "defining moment in her political career".[139]
Early in the pandemic, Noem requested that the legislature pass a bill giving the state health secretary and county officials the power to close businesses and other entities.[130] The House rejected the bill.[131] On March 13, 2020, Noem ordered K-12 schools to close,[140][141] and on April 6, she extended that order for the remainder of the school year.[142][143] Also on April 6, Noem ordered businesses and local governments to practice social distancing and other CDC guidelines.[143][144]
Early on, Noem also emphasized South Dakota's role in evaluatinghydroxychloroquine, anantimalarial drug that Trump had touted as a cure for COVID-19.[145] It was never shown to be useful in treating COVID-19 but can produce fatal cardiacarrhythmia.[146][147]
In early 2020 one of the largest COVID-19outbreaks in the U.S. occurred in South Dakota.[148] TheSmithfield Foods production plant inSioux Falls had four deaths, with nearly 1,300 workers and their family members testing positive.[149]Secretary of Health and Human ServicesAlex Azar misinformed a group of legislators that meatpacking plants employees were unlikely to be infected at work, but that their "home and social" habits were spreading the contagion. Noem may have been the first officeholder to publicly express that view.[150]
On April 13, 2020, of an outbreak where hundreds of workers had tested positive at a Smithfield pork plant, she told Fox News, "We believe that 99 percent of what's going on today wasn't happening inside the facility". The industry didn't explain the deaths from COVID-19 of USDA food-safety inspectors from three plants. Almost 200 inspectors contracted symptomatic COVID-19.[150]
In the pandemic's early days, the Food Safety and Inspection Service did not provide protective equipment to its monitors, forbidding them from wearing masks in the slaughterhouses as it feared that might accentuate the risks. On April 9, 2020, the agency said its inspectors would be allowed to wear masks if the meatpacking plants' owners gave the federal employees permission to do so. Inspectors were expected to supply their own masks.[150] A month later, after publication of the risk of spreading the virus, the USDA started giving its inspectors masks.[150] Noem had said that the plant was in full operation as an essential food manufacturing facility.[151] Forty-eight of Smithfield's workers were hospitalized.[152] On April 6, 2020, Noem issued an executive order that said people "shall" follow guidance from theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention;[153] she also ordered everyone over age 65 inMinnehaha andLincoln counties to stay home for three weeks.[154][155]
Noem did not mandate social distancing or thewearing of face masks at a July 3, 2020, event atMount Rushmore with Trump present. Health experts warned that large gatherings without social distancing or mask-wearing posed a risk to public health.[156] Noem publicly doubted scientific recommendations on the usefulness of masks.[157] In an opinion piece in theRapid City Journal, she defended her views, citing analysis by theAssociation of American Physicians and Surgeons, a group known for promotingpseudoscience.[157] The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons had called vaccination the equivalent of "human experimentation."[158]
COVID cases increased drastically in South Dakota after the 2020Sturgis Motorcycle Rally,[159] in which Noem participated.[160] COVID-19 patients hospitalized in South Dakota on October 22, 2020, reached a record high of 355, including 75 inIntensive Care Units. South Dakota's two largest hospital systems rescheduled elective procedures to increase available space and personnel to accommodate the surge. In the absence of a statewide mask mandate, hospital systems urged people to wear masks while in the company of those outside their own households.Sioux Falls MayorPaul TenHaken advised his constituents, "Wear a dang mask."[157]
Sixteen weeks after Trump's 2020 executive order that provided enhanced weekly unemployment benefits of $300 as part of theU.S. federal government response to the pandemic, Noem opted out of the program, citing a low state unemployment rate.[161] South Dakota was the only state to refuse the assistance.[162] Its jobless rate in June was 7.2%, up from 3.1% in March, though down from 10.9% in April.[152] Acceptance of the funding required the state to augment the benefit by $100 unless other jobless assistance allowed the match to be waived.[162]
From 2020 to 2021, the following events took place:
Noem supported the annualSturgis Motorcycle Rally in August 2020, despite warnings from experts that it could spread COVID-19.[163] Nearly 500,000 bikers attended the event.[164] Public health notices were issued for saloons and other businesses in the Sturgis area. By the end of August, dozens of cases linked to attendance at the event were reported in several states.[165][166][167]
In September 2020, amid a surge of new cases, Noem announced that she would spend $5 million of relief funding on a state tourism campaign.[132] She used $819,000 of those funds to have the state's Department of Tourism run a 30-secondFox News commercial she had narrated during the2020 Republican National Convention.[168]
During September 2020, over 550 students became infected at South Dakota universities; 200 more cases were reported inK–12 schools.[152]
In October 2020, as South Dakota reported the country's second-highest number of new COVID-19 cases per capita and hospitals began to prioritize treatment of severe COVID-19 cases over lesser ones, Noem said the higher case numbers were because of more testing, despite the positive test rate and hospitalization rate also increasing.[169]
In February 2021, Noem signed a bill limiting civil liability for certain exposures to COVID-19. The bill exempted healthcare providers and other businesses, including those sellingpersonal protective equipment, from lawsuits unless COVID-19 exposure resulted from gross negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct.[170]
Also in February 2021, Noem announced her opposition to a bill prohibiting schools and universities from requiring students to get vaccinated.[171] In May, she signed an executive order prohibiting government facilities from requiring proof of vaccination to access services, a policy she called "un-American".[172] In August, Noem opposed legislation proposed by Republican state legislatorsJon Hansen andScott Odenbach that would prohibit businesses from requiring vaccinations as a condition for employment.[173]
In July 2021, Noem criticized other Republican governors for enacting mandatory measures against COVID-19 and trying to "rewrite history" about it.[174] She argued that South Dakota had effectively combated the pandemic by, instead, testing and isolating cases. South Dakota had the 10th-highest death rate and third-highest case rate at that time.[174]
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.[175][176] Liedholt later announced his retirement.[177] Later that month, after meeting with prison employees, despite lingering COVID-19 cases, Noem ended the prison's mask mandate.[178]
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.[179] 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.[180] 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.[181][182]
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.[183] Tennessee billionaireWillis Johnson said he would donate the money necessary for the deployment.[184] 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.[185] The2022 National Defense Authorization Act banned National Guard members from crossing state borders to perform duties paid for by private donors.[186]
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.[187][188] 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.[189] 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.[190] On July 13, Noem filed an appeal with the8th Circuit Court of Appeals.[191]
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.[192]
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.[193][194] 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.[195] 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.[196]
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.[197][198][199] In 2022, she sought to build a gun range inMeade County with government funds, but the legislature rejected it.[200][201][202]
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".[203]
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.[204]
On March 8, 2021, Noem announced on Twitter that she would sign into law H.B. 1217, theWomen's Fairness in Sports Bill,[205] 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.[206] 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.[207] She defended her position onTucker Carlson Tonight.[208]
On March 29, theSouth Dakota House rejected Noem's veto, 67–2.[209] The bill was returned to Noem for reconsideration, and she vetoed it again.[210] The House failed to override her veto, by a vote of 45–24. 47 votes were needed to override.[211] Many conservative commentators criticized Noem for vetoing the bill.[212][213]
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.[214]
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.[215] 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.[216][217] 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.[218]
"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.[219] She defended the campaign as successful in raising awareness.[220]
Opposition to cannabis legalization
In 2020, Noem opposed two ballot measures to legalize cannabis formedical use andrecreational use in South Dakota,[221] 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."[222] After both measures passed, she and two police officers filed a lawsuit seeking a court decision against the measure legalizing recreational use,Amendment A.[223][224]
On February 8, 2021, circuit court judge Christina Klinger struck down the amendment as unconstitutional.[225] After the ruling, she also sought to delay the implementation of the medical marijuana initiative for a year.[226] Ultimately, her efforts failed and medical marijuana became legal on July 1, 2021.[227]
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."[228]
RV Park in Custer State Park proposal
In 2022, Noem sought to locate a government-paid RV park in Custer State Park.[229] The proposal was met with significant opposition to include government competing with private business and disturbing the pristine nature of the park.[230] 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.[231][232]
Staff
On November 19, 2021, Noem named her fifth chief of staff, Mark Miller, to replace outgoing chief of staff Aaron Scheibe.[233] 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.[234][235][236][237]
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.[238]
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,[239][240] 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.[241]
After resigning as governor of South Dakota,[247] Noem was sworn in on January 25, 2025, bySupreme Court JusticeClarence Thomas as Secretary of Homeland Security, with Louisiana GovernorJeff Landry holding the Bible.[248]
In the early morning of January 28, Noem joined multiple federal law enforcement agencies, includingICE, to lead a raid on illegal immigrants inNew York City. Her department posted a video of the raid onX that showed an apparent arrest.[249]
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.[253] 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.[254]
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.[255] 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.[256] She added, "information he [Elon Musk] has is looking at programs, not focusing on personal data and information."[257][255]
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.[258]
On the evening of April 20, Noem's purse was stolen from a D.C. burger restaurant. The purse[259] contained important items, like her government access badge,[260] apartment keys,[261] $2,000–3,000 in cash,[262][263] her passport, and blank checks. The incident raised various concerns, including about her Secret Service detail presence.[259][263]
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.[264]
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.[265][266] 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.[265][267] 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.[267]
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.[270]
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.[241] ProPublica announced in November 2025 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.[271]
In August 2025, Noem announced that 1.6 millionunauthorized immigrants had left the United States since January of that year.[272]
In 2020, the Trump-Pence ticket carried South Dakota, receiving 261,043 votes to 150,471 for the Biden-Harris ticket.[278][279] Noem was initially designated to be one of Trump's threepresidential electors for South Dakota,[280] 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.[281] 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".[282][283][284]
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."[285][286] 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.[287]
During Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, commentators suggested that Noem was a potential running mate for Trump.[292] 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".[293] 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.[294][295] Also that month, Trump acknowledged that Noem was one of the names on his shortlist to be his running mate.[296] In March 2024,CNN reported that Noem was one of four people Trump had shown increased interest in selecting as his running mate.[297]
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.[298][299][300] 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.[301]
Personal life
She married Bryon Noem in 1992, in Watertown, South Dakota.[302] They have three children. In 2011, when Noem moved to Washington to take her congressional office, her family continued to live on a ranch nearCastlewood, South Dakota.[302]
In September 2021, conservative media outletAmerican Greatness reported that Noem was having an extramarital affair with political operativeCorey Lewandowski. 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."[306][307][308] In September 2023, theNew York Post and theDaily Mail published similar reports about Noem and Lewandowski, which Noem's spokesman denied.[309][310] 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".[311]
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!"[312] Noem has since become one of the most prominent examples of so-called "Mar-a-Lago face", a cosmetic surgery trend among conservative women,[313][314] and what has been calledRepublican makeup.[315]
In April 2024, pre-release excerpts of Noem's second autobiography,No Going Back, received broad criticism and condemnation.[317] In a chapter titled "Bad Day to Be a Goat",[318][319] 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.[320] Expecting Cricket to emulate the older, trained, dogs on the hunt,[318][321] Noem instead felt that Cricket ruined the hunt by "chasing all those birds and having the time of her life".[320][318] 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.[318][322] Noem then killed her family's male goat, which she said was "disgusting, musky, rancid".[318][323][324]
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".[325][319][326] The story led to bipartisan criticism of Noem and doubt about the likelihood of her selection as Trump'svice presidential running mate intensified.[327][328] A fundraising dinner for Noem in Colorado scheduled for May 4 was canceled after the group and the hotel hosting the event receiveddeath threats.[329]
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.[330][331] 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.[332][333]
Noem also wrote that she met with North Korean dictatorKim Jong Un. Her spokesperson said the claim was an error and would be expunged from the book's future editions.[334] Separately, 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.[335]
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".[336]
Health
On June 17, 2025, Noem was hospitalized for an unspecified allergic reaction. She was released that night.[337][338]
^"Kristi Noem".South Dakota Legislature Historical Listing. Archived fromthe original on December 11, 2010. RetrievedJanuary 5, 2011.
^"House Bill 1182".sdlegislature.gov. South Dakota Legislature. February 15, 2008.Archived from the original on August 19, 2022. RetrievedAugust 2, 2022.
^"Senate Bill 70".sdlegislature.gov. South Dakota Legislature. March 13, 2009.Archived from the original on August 19, 2022. RetrievedAugust 2, 2022.
^"Senate Bill 89".sdlegislature.gov. South Dakota Legislature. March 12, 2010.Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. RetrievedAugust 2, 2022.
^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.
^Noem, Kristi (April 6, 2020)."Executive Order 2020-12"(PDF).South Dakota Secretary of State.Archived(PDF) from the original on November 16, 2020. RetrievedMay 16, 2020.
^Noem, Kristi (April 6, 2020)."Executive Order 2020-13"(PDF).South Dakota Secretary of State.Archived(PDF) from the original on November 16, 2020. RetrievedMay 16, 2020.
^"Complaint, Noem v. Haaland"(PDF).South Dakota Governor. State of South Dakota. April 30, 2021.Archived(PDF) from the original on May 20, 2021. RetrievedJuly 31, 2021.
^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".NBC4 Washington. 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.
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Kristi Noem (Incumbent)
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