PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — South Dakota’s current governor could be tapped as the next leader of an important federal department in President-elect Donald Trump’s second administration.
That’s according to a Wall Street Journal story published on Thursday that looked at a variety of potential cabinet appointments.
“Trump ally and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is a possibility for Interior Secretary, according to a person familiar with the matter,” the article said.
She was the only one mentioned for the Interior slot.
KELOLAND News has requested comment on the WSJ report from the governor’s communications director, Ian Fury.
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If chosen and confirmed, Noem would replace the Biden administration’s Interior secretary, Deb Haaland, who according to the department’s website “made history when she became the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary. She is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and a 35th generation New Mexican.”
Among the U.S. Department of Interior’s official responsibilities are federal relationships with tribal governments, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education.
Noem as governor has faced ups and downs with tribal governments in South Dakota. She offered emergency assistance after flooding in 2019, moved the state Office of Indian Education from the state Department of Education to the state Department of Tribal Affairs, has been banned from many of the nine reservations at different times, and shifted funding so the state’s law enforcement training program could conduct the first-ever class for tribal officers this year.
Trump’s little-noticed campaign promise to shift thousands of federal employees who are in Washington, DC, to ‘patriot-led states’ also points to a potential gain for South Dakota.
Trump has won South Dakota all three times in his presidential bids. On Tuesday, he received 272,000 votes vs. 146,837 for Harris. That 63% was slightly more than the 62% Trump received from South Dakota voters in 2020 and 2016.
