President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, is expected to appear before a Senate committee on Friday for a confirmation hearing. But even if she makes it through the hearing and is confirmed, as she is expected to be, her role as Homeland Security secretary is expected to be more limited in scope than that of her predecessors, sources familiar with the matter told NBC News Trump.
If confirmed, Noem, the South Dakota governor, will oversee a workforce of more than 260,000 across a number of agencies, including Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement , the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Secret Service and cybersecurity. and Infrastructure Security Agency. But on the issue that falls within her purview and is the most high-profile and most important to Trump, immigration, she would follow marching orders from the White House, particularly from new border czar Tom Homan and Stephen Miller , deputy chief of staff for policy, four sources close to transition preparations said on condition of anonymity that they were not authorized to speak to the media about transition discussions.
Former homeland security secretaries have participated in cabinet-level discussions on immigration policy and advised the presidents they served on the realities of implementing policies on the ground. They also set priorities for how to proceed with immigration enforcement.
Noem is not considered a key player in planning mass deportations, a major Trump campaign promise, because that is widely seen as Homan and Miller’s goal, the sources said. She has not spoken out on the issue nor made national media appearances since Trump announced her as his choice to head DHS shortly after winning the White House in November. But if Congress has policy questions, she will answer them.
In response to a question about Noem’s role in immigration policy, the transition team said in a statement: “President Trump was elected to secure America’s borders. As President Trump’s chosen DHS Secretary, Governor Noem will ensure that CBP, ICE, and USCIS, the critical immigration agencies under her jurisdiction, have what is necessary to protect our borders and keep Americans safe.
The transition team also noted that the Border Patrol union supported Noem in a letter to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which will hold the confirmation hearing. “We are confident that as Secretary, Governor Noem will continue to ensure that Border Patrol agents have the resources and manpower we need to secure our border,” the letter said .
Noem’s spokesperson in the governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager and longtime Noem ally, is involved in recruiting for key positions within the new DHS, although he is not officially part of the DHS transition, reports said. three of the sources. Two of them said it was frustrating for people in the Trump transition whose jobs are supposed to recruit for the department. One of the sources called Lewandowski’s role “disproportionate” and “abnormal,” while another called it “unusual.”
Both said Lewandowski used a Gmail account for people to email him if they wanted a job at DHS.
A lawyer for Lewandowski said he was not “in charge of the hiring process for DHS” and had a professional relationship with Noem.
Although Noem’s role in immigration policy may be limited, DHS’s responsibility for securing critical infrastructure, responding to natural disasters, preventing terrorist attacks, and protecting the president and other dignitaries would fall to her in ultimately if it was confirmed.
Critics, including Democrats and his state’s Native American tribes, as well as some senators, have argued that as governor of South Dakota, a state far from the U.S. southern border with only 5 percent of the population, of DHS, Noem does not have the necessary experience. to execute the DHS.
Doug Sombke, a South Dakota farmer and president of the South Dakota Farmers Union, who has frequently criticized Noem, said she is not qualified to lead DHS. “Hell, no, she can’t run the state,” he said.
Noem recently came under fire for the auditor’s denial of an open records request regarding her government-issued credit card. The auditor told Sioux Falls’ Dakota Scout newspaper that the records could not be released because it could jeopardize his safety. The newspaper sued to obtain the records.
His Republican colleagues also criticized him for spending $13 million of taxpayer money on a shooting range project that the Legislature rejected.
“The Legislature opposed this spending and the governor approved it anyway,” Sombke said.
Noem’s supporters applaud her tough stance on immigration. She called for so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with ICE to be punished. And she sent members of the South Dakota National Guard to the border to deal with what she called an “invasion” of immigrants.
“Kristi has been very strong on border security,” Trump said in a statement in November, announcing her as his choice to lead DHS. “She will work closely with Border Czar Tom Homan to secure the border and ensure our American homeland is safe from our adversaries.”
Other issues likely to come up during Noem’s Senate committee hearing Friday are her revelation in a recently released memoir that she shot and killed her family’s dog even though she considered him “untrainable.” “. Another example is a 2022 South Dakota state legislative committee’s finding that Noem’s daughter, Kassidy Peters, received special treatment when she obtained her real estate appraiser’s license. A state agency granted the license in 2020 despite Peters’ inability to obtain the required training, the legislative committee found.
The commission noted in its legislative minutes that when Noem’s daughter was initially rejected, she “should have waited the required six months and reapplied.” Instead, she received her license from the agency that answered to the governor.
Noem has denied ever intervening on her daughter’s behalf, saying in a video at the time: “I never asked for special treatment for Kassidy.” »
