President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to choose loyal Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Trump is expected to select Noem to replace the outgoing Biden-Harris administration’s DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, multiple sources confirmed to Fox News.
Noem, who was thought to be a potential running mate on the Trump ticket earlier in the year.
She has served as governor of the Mount Rushmore State since 2019.
The DHS oversees U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Secret Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
If selected, Noem would work with Tom Homan.
Homan was announced as Trump’s “border czar” on Sunday.
She would also be joining Stephen Miller, who was announced as the White House deputy of staff for policy on Monday.
Noem, along with Homan and Miller, has long been an ally of Trump’s.
She has been a strong supporter of Trump’s stiff stance on immigration and border security.
On Monday night, it was also revealed that the president-elect is expected to choose Republican Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as his Secretary of State.
Like Noem, Rubio was also on Trump’s shortlist for VP.
An official announcement from Trump or Noem has not been made as of Tuesday morning.
Noem served for eight years as South Dakota’s at-large congresswoman.
She then went on to win the election as governor in 2018.
Noem speaks regularly with Trump, according to those in her political orbit.
The governor was a high-profile surrogate on behalf of Trump on the campaign trail this year.
In an interview last week on Fox News’s “Your World,” Noem told host Neil Cavuto that Trump “has told me several times now, a couple of times just since Election Day, about how focused he is on doing big things…he knows he only has four years and he wants to hit the ground running.
“And he said anybody that I want around me needs to be thinking big, too.”
Noem, who was convincingly re-elected in 2022, is term-limited.
She has a maximum of two years left in office as South Dakota governor.
The news of Trump’s selection of Noem to serve at DHS was first reported by CNN.
