Trump picks Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary

() – President-elect Donald Trump selected the governor of South Dakota Kristi Noem as his next Department of Homeland Security secretary, according to two people familiar with the selection.

Noem will be tapped to take over the agency, while two key immigration hardliners — Stephen Miller and Tom Homan— are slated to fill senior positions, signaling that Trump is serious about his promise to crack down on his immigration commitments. By choosing Noem, Trump ensures that a loyal person will lead an agency that he prioritizes and that is key to his national agenda.

The department experienced major upheaval the last time Trump was in office. At the time, DHS had five different leaders, only two of whom were confirmed by the Senate. The agency has a $60 billion budget and hundreds of thousands of employees.

Noem, who previously served as South Dakota’s representative, will now be tasked with overseeing a sprawling agency that controls everything from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the Federal Customs Administration. Emergencies and the United States Secret Service.

Noem had been on Trump’s list of candidates for vice president, but her relationship with Trump changed after the negative impact generated by the publication of her book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.” ” (There’s No Going Back: The Truth About What’s Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward). In it, he revealed that he once killed Cricket, his 14-month-old wire-haired pointer, when he didn’t show the signs of an ideal hunting dog.

The governor wrote that the dog was “impossible to train,” according to excerpts first published by Guardian. Noem later argued that those anecdotes were meant to demonstrate how capable she is of doing some of life’s most gruesome jobs when necessary.