Discover the career path of Kristi Noem, from the first major opportunity to industry-changing achievements.
Kristi Noem is an American politician who has served as the 8th United States Secretary of Homeland Security since 2025. A Republican, she was the 33rd governor of South Dakota from 2019 to 2025. Prior to her governorship, Noem represented South Dakota's at-large congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019. Her career reflects a progression through different levels of government service.
In 2006, Kristi Noem was elected as a Republican to the South Dakota House of Representatives, representing the 6th district, earning 39% of the vote.
Kristi Noem began serving in the South Dakota House of Representatives in 2007.
In 2008, Kristi Noem was re-elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives with 41% of the vote.
In 2009, Kristi Noem served as vice chair of the Agriculture Land Assessment Advisory Task Force.
In August 2010, while running for Congress, Kristi Noem indicated she would vote to ban embryonic stem-cell research.
In 2010, Kristi Noem ran for South Dakota's at-large seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and won the Republican primary.
In 2010, Kristi Noem supported the Keystone XL Pipeline.
In 2010, Kristi Noem's four-year term in the South Dakota House of Representatives concluded.
On March 8, 2011, Kristi Noem announced the formation of a leadership political action committee, KRISTI PAC.
In March 2011, Kristi Noem criticized President Barack Obama's approach to the NATO-led military intervention in the 2011 Libyan civil war, calling for more information about the U.S.'s role.
In March 2011, Kristi Noem was elected by the 2011 House Republican freshman class as liaison to the House Republican leadership, becoming the second woman member of the House GOP leadership.
In 2011, Kristi Noem indicated that she would vote to raise the federal debt ceiling if it was tied to budget reforms. She ultimately voted for S. 365, The Budget Control Act of 2011.
In 2011, Kristi Noem moved to Washington to take her congressional office, while her family continued to live on a ranch near Castlewood, South Dakota.
In 2011, Kristi Noem sponsored a measure to block Environmental Protection Agency funding for tighter air pollution standards for coarse particulates.
In March 2011, Representative Pete Sessions named Kristi Noem one of the 12 regional directors for the National Republican Congressional Committee for the 2012 election campaign.
From 2013 to 2015, Kristi Noem served on the House Armed Services Committee, working on the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.
From 2013 to 2015, Kristi Noem served on the House Armed Services Committee, where she worked on the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.
From 2013 to 2015, Kristi Noem served on the House Armed Services Committee, working on the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.
In 2015, Kristi Noem co-sponsored a bill to amend the 14th Amendment to define human life and personhood as beginning at fertilization, effectively banning abortion from that moment.
In November 2016, Kristi Noem announced her candidacy for governor of South Dakota in the 2018 election, choosing not to seek reelection to Congress.
In 2017, Kristi Noem supported President Donald Trump's 2017 Executive Order 13769, which temporarily suspended the U.S. refugee program and banned travel from several Muslim-majority countries.
In 2017, Kristi Noem was on the conference committee that negotiated the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which she said would give the average South Dakota family a $1,200 tax cut.
In 2018, Kristi Noem pitched the idea to members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus to attach her online sales tax bill to the government funding package.
In 2018, Kristi Noem was elected as the first female governor of South Dakota.
While running for governor in 2018, Kristi Noem made government transparency part of her platform.
On January 5, 2019, Kristi Noem was sworn in as governor of South Dakota, becoming the first woman to hold that office in the state.
On October 1, 2019, Josh Shields became chief of staff.
In 2019, Kristi Noem consented to South Dakota's participation in the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program after a Trump executive order that allowed state and local governments to opt out.
In 2019, Kristi Noem signed bills restricting abortion, stating they would "crack down on abortion providers in South Dakota".
In 2019, Kristi Noem signed into law anti-protest legislation developed in collaboration with TransCanada Corporation in response to protests against the Keystone Pipeline.
In 2019, Noem signed a bill into law abolishing South Dakota's permit requirement to carry a concealed handgun.
Kristi Noem served in Congress until 2019, after being reelected three times.
On January 1, 2020, Josh Shields left position as chief of staff.
On March 2, 2020, Tony Venhuizen became Noem's chief of staff, succeeding Josh Shields.
In August 2020, Kristi Noem was rewarded for her COVID-19 response with a speech at the Republican National Convention, which elevated her national profile.
In 2020, after a federal court struck down sections of the legislation as unconstitutional, Noem brought legislation to repeal sections of the previous bill and clarify the definition of "incitement to riot".
In 2020, the Trump-Pence ticket carried South Dakota, receiving 261,043 votes to 150,471 for the Biden-Harris ticket. Noem was initially designated as one of Trump's presidential electors but later withdrew.
On March 8, 2021, Noem announced on Twitter that she would sign into law H.B. 1217, the Women's Fairness in Sports Bill, which bans transgender athletes from participating in women's school and college sports teams. The bill faced criticism due to potential economic repercussions.
On April 23, 2021, Aaron Scheibe replaced Tony Venhuizen to become Noem's chief of staff.
On July 1, 2021, medical marijuana became legal in South Dakota after efforts to delay its implementation failed.
In November 2021, Kristi Noem announced that she was running for reelection as governor of South Dakota.
On November 19, 2021, Noem appointed Mark Miller as her fifth chief of staff, replacing Aaron Scheibe, who had served since May 1, 2021.
In December 2021, Noem and her office indicated their support for a bill called "An Act to Protect Fairness in women's sports," which would require young athletes to join teams aligned with their sex assigned at birth.
In 2021, Noem signed a religious refusal bill into law, amending the state RFRA to allow business owners to deny products or services based on religious beliefs related to sexual orientation or gender identity. The legislation, S.B. 124, was criticized by civil rights groups for potentially enabling discrimination.
In February 2022, House Democratic Minority Leader Jamie Smith announced he was seeking the Democratic nomination.
In September 2023, Noem endorsed Trump in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries at a rally in Rapid City, South Dakota.
In September 2023, Noem stated that she would agree to serve as Trump's running mate "in a heartbeat" when asked on Newsmax.
In 2023, Kristi Noem opposed subsidized child care, stating, "I just don't think it's the government's job to pay or to raise people's children for them".
At the February 2024 CPAC conference, Noem tied with Vivek Ramaswamy as attendees' top choice for Trump's running mate, each receiving 15% of the vote in a straw poll.
In March 2024, CNN reported that Trump had shown increased interest in Noem as his running mate.
In March 2024, Trump invited Noem to appear with him at a rally in Vandalia, Ohio.
In April 2024, Kristi Noem announced that she had reversed her support for a federal ban on abortion, stating her belief that abortion law should be determined at the state level.
In April 2024, it was reported that Noem's chances of being selected as Trump's running mate had decreased due to her stance on abortion and the controversial content in her book, "No Going Back".
On November 12, 2024, President-elect Trump selected Noem to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security in his second term.
On January 17, 2025, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a confirmation hearing for Noem.
After resigning as governor of South Dakota, Noem was sworn in on January 25, 2025, by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as Secretary of Homeland Security.
As of April 2025, the Trump administration claimed that approximately 140,000 people had been deported, though some estimates placed the actual number around half of that.
After the 2025 Potomac River mid-air collision, Noem deployed U.S. Coast Guard resources for search and rescue efforts.
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