The Senate confirmed Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in a 59-34 vote on Saturday, with several Democrats joining Republicans to approve the official tasked with carrying out President Donald Trump’s deportation plans.
The Senate worked into the weekend to push through more of Trump’s nominees, including the South Dakota governor to head DHS. Though the position oversees one of the most expansive government agencies and is likely the most important to accomplishing Trump’s controversial immigration agenda, Noem received bipartisan support both in passing through committee approval and the wider caucus.
Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Ruben Gallego were the only Democrats to vote against her on the Homeland committee. Ahead of Saturday’s vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said comprehensive reform was the only way to resolve the immigration system and that he would vote against Noem.
“Kristi Noem seems headed in the wrong direction,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Saturday.
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Democrats did not remain unified against the nominee, as they did for defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth on Friday evening.
It’s a marked shift from what became a highly contested position in the Biden administration. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas became a punching bag for the GOP over border crossings and for the administration’s immigration policies more broadly. Last April, House Republicans voted to impeach the secretary, but the Democrat-led Senate dismissed the charges.
Noem will play a central role in Trump’s agenda. Her hearing previewed many of the policies the administration has already deployed and others that are expected to be rolled out in the coming months. Trump’s first round of executive orders referenced the department and its responsibilities frequently.
At and after the hearing, Democrats signaled they were willing to give her a shot.
“During her confirmation hearing, I pressed Governor Noem to set aside partisan ideologies and to follow the facts when it comes to the threats our communities face,” Sen. Gary Peters, ranking member on the committee, said in a statement on Monday. “Given her openness to working on a bipartisan basis to address these and other threats to our homeland security, I voted to advance her nomination out of committee and send it to the Senate floor for consideration.”
As Democrats shift to the right on immigration, with several in the Senate joining Republicans to pass the controversial Laken Riley Act, Noem appears to be another beneficiary.
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Casey Murray is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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