The Senate has confirmed Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary, putting the South Dakota governor in charge of a sprawling agency that is essential to national security and President Donald Trump’s plans to clamp down on illegal immigration.

Noem's full name is Kristi Lynn Arnold Noem and she was born in 1971 in Watertown, in east central South Dakota. The city is in Codington County about 187 miles northeast of the state's capital Pierre. The new Secretary of Homeland Security is married to Bryon Noem.

Noem and committee Republicans focused on the border while Democrats asked about foreign and home-grown terrorism during a cordial hearing.

Kristi Noem cleared a key procedural hurdle in the Senate on Friday, teeing up her final confirmation vote for early Sunday.

Trump supporters love her. But the South Dakota governor will likely be asked about family separation at the border - and the dog she says she shot.

Kristi Noem's hearing on Jan. 17 will end the first week of hearings to determine whether senators will confirm Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, the firebrand who gained a national spotlight during the coronavirus pandemic, was confirmed by the Senate.

The Senate is heading towards a vote on confirming South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary.

The Senate struck a deal to hold a vote Saturday morning on Kristi Noem’s nomination to be the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate is expected to vote Saturday at 11:30 a.m. to confirm Noem instead of returning on Sunday as originally planned.

Gov. Kristi Noem’s heated rhetoric on immigration belies a stark economic reality in her own state: With unemployment at 1.9% — the lowest in the country — South Dakota faces an acute labor shortage a

WASHINGTON -- US Senate on Saturday confirmed South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, assigning her the responsibility of enforcing stricter immigration policies, one of Donald Trump's administration's key objectives. The upper chamber approved the Trump's pick in a vote of 59-34.