Kristi Noem was confirmed Saturday morning as the new U.S. secretary of Homeland Security by a 59-34 vote. The 53-year-old former governor of South Dakota becomes the eighth person to lead the agency,

The Senate confirmed Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary on Saturday by a 59-34 vote, putting the former South Dakota governor in charge of a sprawling agency that is essential to national security and President Donald Trump's plans to clamp down on illegal immigration.

South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem will be the nation’s next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security after the U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination Saturday. The 53-year-old Noem, a former congresswoman,