Editor’s note: This piece is part of a series presenting questions for Senators and journalists to ask President-elect Trump’s nominees for senior government positions.
Kristi Noem, currently governor of South Dakota, is President-Elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). If confirmed as secretary of DHS, Noem will be responsible for leading the federal government on a range of crucial threats and challenges, from emergency management, to cybersecurity, to domestic extremism, to immigration policy implementation.
We asked experts what members of the committee should focus on in Noem’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Friday, January 17, 2025 at 9:00am ET.
Cybersecurity
- What can CISA [the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency] do to improve or foster the resilience of U.S. critical infrastructure to cyber intrusions aimed at espionage or potentially at disruptive activity? (former US official)
- Last year, CISA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking describing its intended rules for critical infrastructure cyber incident reporting, as required by the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA). Do you agree with the NPRM, and if not, what changes would you implement for the final rule? More generally, how should cyber incident reporting to the federal government be structured to ensure that it is effective, but not overly burdensome to entities responding to cyber incidents? (former US official)
Artificial Intelligence
- Last year, Department of Homeland Security Security Alejandro Mayorkas convened “leaders in technology, industry, civil rights, academia, and government to form a first-of-its-kind AI Safety and Security Board,” with which the department developed its “Roles and Responsibilities Framework for Artificial Intelligence in Critical Infrastructure.” Are you committed to maintaining this board, and to continuing to consult with civil rights and AI safety experts on the responsible deployment of artificial intelligence in the Department? (Justin Hendrix)
- DHS has developed a suite of guidelines and oversight mechanisms intended to ensure that the agency’s use of AI is safe, effective and fair. Do you intend to keep these in place? (Faiza Patel)
Climate Change/Disaster Relief and Protection
- What do you see as the role of scientific data, including climate models, in anticipating and responding to natural disasters? (Megan Corrarino)
- As governor of South Dakota, you declined many of the available disaster relief funds, including some FEMA resilience grants for which the state was eligible. As head of DHS, would you encourage these same climate relief funds to continue to be available to states? (Megan Corrarino)
- As an agency within DHS, FEMA plays a critical role in supporting local governments and communities in disaster preparation, response, and relief. Will you commit that as Secretary, if confirmed, you will not divert or use any FEMA resources or personnel for immigration enforcement? (Lucas Guttentag)
- Climate adaptation and resilience programs at DHS are an important driver of technological innovation, including in cooperation with the private sector. What do you see as DHS’s role in scientific research and development going forward? (Megan Corrarino)
Domestic Violent Extremism
- In October 2024, DHS released its Homeland Threat Assessment for 2025. Describing the risks posed by terrorism, DHS assessed that “the threat of violence from US-based violent extremists” — including both Domestic Violent Extremists (DVE) “motivated by various ideologies” and homegrown violent extremists (HVE) inspired by foreign terrorist organizations — “will remain high.” As Secretary of Homeland Security, are you committed to countering both types of threats – that is, from both domestic violent extremists and those inspired by foreign terrorists? (Tom Joscelyn)
- The DHS also assessed that “threat will continue to be characterized primarily by lone offenders or small cells motivated to violence by a combination of racial, religious, gender, or anti-government grievances; conspiracy theories; and personalized factors.” As Secretary of Homeland Security, are you committed to countering all types of violent extremism, regardless of motivations or ideology? (Tom Joscelyn)
Data collection/Surveillance on Americans
- In 2022, the American Civil Liberties Union released thousands of pages of documents obtained by freedom of information requests that detailed how “Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and other parts of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are sidestepping our Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable government searches and seizures by buying access to, and using, huge volumes of people’s cell phone location information quietly extracted from smartphone apps.” In August 2023, DHS issued a privacy impact assessment on its use of commercial location data. In September 2023, a DHS Office of the Inspector General review found that the CBP, ICE, and the United States Secret Service “did not adhere to Department privacy policies or develop sufficient policies before procuring and using commercial telemetry data.” Are you committed to continuing the effort to police the Department’s use of commercial data, to improving its policies and controls, and to minimize the amount of data it collects on individuals in the United States? (Justin Hendrix)
- How do you intend to cabin DHS’s domestic intelligence programs (e.g., the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, which issued intel reports on reactions to the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade and the Federal Protective Service which did the same for trucker convoys protesting vaccine mandates) to ensure that they stop targeting Americans for their political views? (Faiza Patel)
- DHS runs a number of social media monitoring programs, including for domestic intelligence purposes. According to the Department’s inspector general, the agency has not evaluated the efficacy of these programs and some internal documents indicate that such monitoring has not proved useful. Will you take any steps to audit these programs? (Faiza Patel)
Immigration
- The “zero tolerance” policy of the first Trump administration caused family separation and the traumatization of thousands of children and parents. Do you commit to rejecting that policy, and what will you do to ensure that it does not occur again if you are confirmed? (Lucas Guttentag)
- Tens of thousands of children were ordered deported under the Biden Administration without legal representation. Many of them were ordered removed in absentia for failing to come to court, even though they were far too young to control whether or not they appeared. Will you commit to ensuring that those children receive due process prior to facing deportation? (Ahilan Arulanantham)
- Trump administration “Border czar” Tom Homan and others have suggested that the Department of Homeland Security will undertake worksite raids. In the past, many people arrested in such raids were the parents of school-aged American children, leaving those children in limbo when their parents failed to pick them up from school. Some even ended up in state and local foster-care systems, and suffer adverse emotional and physical effects for years, including more suicidal thoughts. Will you commit to ensuring that officials under your supervision release on bond the parents of school-aged children who are arrested in immigration enforcement operations, so that they can take care of their children while they await their day in court? (Ahilan Arulanantham)
- What is your position on ICE conducting immigration arrests or enforcement actions at places of worship, schools, and hospital emergency rooms? If confirmed, what will you do as DHS Secretary to ensure that the constitutional right of children to attend public school guaranteed by Plyler v. Doe is not compromised by ICE engaging in immigration enforcement at or near public schools? (Lucas Guttentag)
- Do you believe that the Secretary of DHS or the President has legal authority to deploy military or National Guard personnel to engage in or support immigration enforcement or the detention of noncitizens? If you believe such authority exists, what is the source and do current circumstances warrant invoking it in your view? If such authority were exercised, how would you ensure that military personnel participating in immigration enforcement understand and comply with the complexities of immigration law? (Lucas Guttentag)