Trump’s nominee for Homeland Security chief fields senators’ questions

President-elect Donald Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary nominee, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the committee’s chairman, said Noem would usher in an era of transparency, effectiveness, and clear priorities for the Department of Homeland Security. Ranking Member Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., expressed his hope that Noem would effectively handle the array of issues that would fall under her purview if she was confirmed.

What did Noem have to say for herself at the hearing? Noem said she would work to secure the U.S. southern border, and said she would implement a whole-of-government approach to protecting the United States from cyberattacks. Noem touted her record as a governor, addressing issues arising from both inside and outside her state’s borders, as evidence of her ability to protect the United States.

What sort of questions did the senators have for Noem?

• Domestic terrorism: Sen. Peters asked Noem what she would do to counter the threat posed by lone actors inside the United States. Noem said identifying Americans who are at risk of committing terrorist acts because of external radicalization is essential. At the same time, she said it was also important to do so while protecting their civil rights. Noem added that a major source of domestic terrorism is the wide-open U.S. southern border.

• Transparency: Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., asked Noem what steps she would take to make sure the American people could trust her and the federal government. Noem said that officials must tell the American people the truth, while also earning Americans’ trust by acting on behalf of their best interests. That includes closing the U.S. southern border, Noem said. Noem also said that, as a federal official, she would prioritize communication with state-level officials.

• Border security: Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asked Noem what she would do to counter drug and firearms trafficking through the U.S. southern border. Noem said that new technologies should be employed to make sure illegal weapons and drugs were not making their way to bad actors in the United States by way of either the northern or southern border.

• Cybersecurity: Hassan, along with other senators, also asked Noem whether she would prioritize cybersecurity. Noem promised that she would. She said she’d secured South Dakota’s digital systems during her time as governor, and she aimed to do the same at the federal level if she was appointed Homeland Security secretary.

• Natural disasters: Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked whether Noem would be more inclined to give Republican-led states aid in the event of a natural disaster than Democrat-led states. Noem said she would not allow the political affiliation of a state’s leaders to influence the amount of natural disaster assistance that state received.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift from yesterday about Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent’s confirmation hearing.