Key Highlights
- Department of Homeland Security Sec.
- Kristi Noem has been a lightning rod for criticism amid anti-ICE riots that have rocked the country, sparked a government shutdown and left many wondering whether the nation’s 8th DHS secretary would keep her job.
- Despite the mounting pressure, Noem appeared calm, collected, and confident during a trip this week that included a stop in Mississippi to assess winter storm damage recovery efforts, visits to the southern border in Texas and Arizona as well as the northern border in North Dakota, and a BBQ dinner hosted and served by Noem herself to Border Patrol agents in Arizona. During the first half of the four-day stint, Congress was still dealing with a partial government shutdown largely over how to fund DHS.
- The House ultimately reached an agreement, funding the agency through Feb.
- 13, but Noem's focus remained the same before and after the bill passed, and her schedule was left unchanged.
