Fox News, CNN and the Daily Beast are all reporting Tuesday morning that president-elect Donald Trump selected South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as his next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. If selected and confirmed, the hardliner Noem will have her hands full riding herd over a sprawling agency that boasts a $60 billion budget, hundreds of thousands of employees and oversees everything from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Secret Service. Last go around, the post was problematic for Trump, cycling through five different leaders.
Monday it was reported Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., had been offered the role of national security adviser in the forthcoming Trump administration, per the Wall Street Journal and Fox News Digital. One of President-elect Trump’s most visible surrogates during the 2024 campaign, the Florida congressman is the first retired Green Beret to serve in Congress. He previously served as a policy adviser to former Defense Secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates.
Rep. Mike Waltz
Also late Monday, speculation began to intensify through various media outlets that Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was close to being named secretary of state in the coming days. ABC, MSN, Reuters, CNN and the New York Times among other outlets have all surmised the former presidential candidate turned Trump ally was emerging as the preferred choice for the post. If true, Rubio would face confirmation in the Senate en route to becoming the first Latino to hold the cabinet position.
Marco Rubio
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