The US Senate on Saturday confirmed South Dakota governor Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a key agency in President Donald Trump's push to clamp down on illegal immigration.
The vote came a day after US lawmakers narrowly confirmed former Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth to be Pentagon chief, adding to previous national security posts already greenlit for Trump's cabinet, including the secretary of state and CIA director.
Noem, 53, a Trump ally and second-term governor of the north central US state, takes control of the US agency overseeing border enforcement and migrant deportations, but which also leads federal efforts on cybersecurity, terrorism, and emergency management.
Trump on Friday said he would sign an order seeking to scrap the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after he harshly criticized its response to two devastating hurricanes during last year's election campaign.
Noem is best known internationally for sinking her chances of being Trump's vice-presidential pick with her cheerful admission that she had shot her dog, Cricket, because it was "untrainable."
She is also known for making South Dakota —far from the border with Mexico— among the first Republican-led states to send National Guard troops to the frontier, earning plaudits from conservatives.
During her confirmation hearing last week, Noem said the southern border would be a top priority, asserting America's "responsibility to secure our borders against those who would do us harm," while stressing that the system must be fair and lawful.
Noem was also asked at the hearing to address the distribution of disaster aid.
She vowed, "There will be no political bias to how disaster relief is delivered to the American people."
But Trump on Friday, after expressing his intent to close FEMA, threatened to withhold assistance to California as it faces a historic wave of wildfires unless the Democratic-led state changes its voting laws and environmental regulations.
With AFP
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