South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has finished her confirmation hearing in front of a Senate subcommittee.
The two-and-a-half hour hearing Friday ranged from how she would handle the southern border to radicalization within the U.S.
Homeland Security has a workforce of over 260,000 employees with a $110 billion budget. Its duties range from customs and border enforcement to the secret service and FEMA.
The department is seen as crucial for enforcing President Donald Trump’s immigration policy. Noem told the Committee on Homeland Security that’s exactly why she asked for the position.
"The reason that I asked for it is because I knew it was the president's number one priority," Noem said. "I knew that it would be needed to have someone in the position, that would do what the president promised the American people and would be strong enough to do it."
Noem told the committee she would reinstate the "Remain in Mexico" policy, which requires asylum seekers to wait there until their court hearing date.
She also wants to rescind the CPB One app — which asylum seekers can use to set appointments with border officials.
Meanwhile, Democrats on the committee focused on the department’s need to address domestic terrorism and homegrown terrorism — which she said the department should focus on.
Noem also pointed to her experience as governor in a state with tribal governments being an asset to the department, specifically in working with Arizona tribes on southern border security.
“So, that our tribes have an opportunity to have a secure border, but also have it reflect their values and their culture and have their own people be a part of the solution,” Noem said. “And then even when it comes to the infrastructure of the wall, that we’re respecting that and they’re landscapes as well.”
During her time as governor, Noem has had a complicated relationship with tribes in South Dakota. Last year, every tribe in the state banned her from reservation lands. One tribe recently lifted that banishment.
The committee will hold a business meeting to vote on Noem’s nomination as soon as Monday.
