President-elect Donald Trump has selected South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as his next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, according to two people familiar with the selection.

“Kristi has been very strong on border security,” Trump said in a statement formally announcing the pick later Tuesday.

“She will work closely with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan to secure the border and ensure that our American homeland is protected from our adversaries,” he added.

Noem was tapped to take over the agency as two key people on immigration – Stephen Miller and Tom Homan — are slated to play in leadership roles, signaling that Trump is serious about his promise to scale back his immigration commitments. By selecting Noem, Trump ensures that a loyalist will lead an agency he prioritizes and is key to his domestic agenda.

The department saw a tremendous amount of turmoil the last time Trump was in office. DHS then had five different leaders, only two of whom were confirmed by the Senate. The agency has a budget of 60 billion dollars and hundreds of thousands of employees.

Noem, who previously served as representative in South Dakota, will now be tasked with overseeing an expanding agency that oversees everything from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and US Secret Service.

Although Noem does not represent a border state, she has a long history of taking tough stances on immigration. As a candidate for Congress in 2010, she support an ultimately unsuccessful attempt by Senate Republicans to thwart an Obama administration lawsuit challenging Arizona’s immigration law. And she has appointed for punishing Democratic-led “sanctuary cities” that protected undocumented immigrants by not cooperating with federal agencies during Trump’s first term.

As governor, Noem clashed with indigenous tribes in her state, suggesting tribal leaders were more focused on profiting from drug cartels than their children, comments that led to her being banned from some tribal lands . As DHS secretary, Noem would be in charge of a department that is involved in tribal issues.

longtime Trump loyalist

Since taking office in 2019, Noem has positioned himself politically as a Trump-style governor and has long sought to curry favor with the president-elect. She was a strident opponent of Covid-19 safety measures, such as forced masking and the closing of businesses and churches, and once told a National Rifle Association event that her 2-year-old grandson has several guns. In 2020, The New York Times reported that Noem once presented Trump with a 4-foot Mount Rushmore replica that added his face to the pantheon of US presidents and was one of the first governors to endorse him ahead of his 2024 presidential bid.

Trump, for his part, called Noem a “great person,” and she was once considered a potential running mate as he prepared to run in 2024. But she ultimately fell out of favor shortlisted and then suffered a embarrassing political episode after the publication of his book: “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.” In it, she revealed that she once killed her 14-month-old pointer, Cricket, when he wasn’t showing the signs of an ideal hunting dog.

The governor wrote that the dog was “untrainable,” according to excerpts first reported by The Guardian. Noem argued later that those anecdotes were meant to show how capable she is of doing some of life’s most gruesome jobs when necessary.

However, Noem remained a staunch Trump ally. In the final weeks of the 2024 campaign, Atlantic reported that Noem attended a strategy briefing with Trump, questioning campaign officials’ conclusions about the state of the race. And she moderated a memorable town hall in October when Trump swayed to the music for more than 30 minutes.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Michelle Shen contributed to this report.

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