Louisiana’s governor first were given to grasp Noem once they have been each in Congress. Years later, he performed an sudden function when she joined Trump’s Cupboard.
WASHINGTON—At the night of Jan. 25, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry ended up in a memorable spot: in the house of Best Court docket Justice Clarence Thomas, status sooner than him and Kristi Noem.
As Landry held a bible that had belonged to Noem’s overdue father, Thomas swore her into her new federal function. Hours after the Senate showed her nomination, Noem was once formally President Donald Trump’s Hometown Safety Secretary.
How did all of the items fall into position?
The story starts in a New 12 months’s tragedy: Bourbon Boulevard, where the place The usa is going to birthday party, was once focused through a thorough Islamic terrorist, U.S. Military veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar.
Fourteen women and men have been killed, and dozens extra have been injured when Jabbar drove his pickup truck thru a crowd within the early morning hours of Jan. 1. Jabbar died in a next shootout with police.
“The terrorist on Bourbon Boulevard—he dedicated the ones acts whilst having an ISIS flag tied to the bumper of his truck,” Landry informed The Epoch Occasions.
Landry famous that Jabbar was once a homegrown terrorist, born in the US.
“This is one thing that are supposed to frighten American citizens,” he mentioned.
The assault was once carried out simply weeks forward of the approaching Tremendous Bowl, slated for Feb. 9 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. After the Bourbon Boulevard tragedy, the Large Simple wanted lend a hand from the Division of Hometown Safety.
“That’s why we instantly started to push the Senate to verify Governor Noem,” Landry mentioned. He had gotten to grasp the longer term Cupboard member they have been each serving in Congress and supported her nomination.
And New Orleans isn’t the governor’s simplest fear. Lots of the president’s greatest pledges fear immigration and border safety. Noem will play a key function in unwinding the former management’s insurance policies and placing Trump’s imaginative and prescient into position.
“That was once an entire different reason why to take a look at to get Governor Noem into that seat as temporarily as imaginable,” Landry mentioned.
The governor added that the pressing wishes of North Carolina, nonetheless recuperating from Storm Helene, and Los Angeles, freshly devastated through wildfires, require energetic management from the Division of Hometown Safety.
Injury from the Eaton Fireplace is observed from the streets of Altadena, Calif., on Jan. 24, 2025. John Fredricks/The Epoch Occasions
In Noem’s Nook
On Jan. 26, Landry was once within the District of Columbia on the Area Committee on Infrastructure and Transportation. That gave him a possibility to suggest for Noem as she moved throughout the affirmation procedure. In no time—sooner than Landry anticipated—she was once showed in a 59–34 vote, with seven senators no longer vote casting. Noem was once located to be sworn in on the exact same day.
The governor mentioned Noem referred to as him, asking if he and his spouse, Sharon, wish to follow the rite.
Vice President JD Vance was once intended to swear within the incoming Cupboard member. However scheduling problems derailed that plan.
“She mentioned, hi there, who can swear me in?” Landry recalled.
What an honor to be sworn in as Secretary of @DHSgov through Justice Clarence Thomas!
I can faithfully execute the tasks of this administrative center. I can all the time maintain the Charter and the protection of our country. percent.twitter.com/xt5gMm5DJU
“I believed, wow, that’s very nostalgic,” Landry mentioned.
Ahead of the rite started, Noem requested the guy governor, who have been in her nook, to carry her overdue father’s bible.
“I’m extremely joyful that she’s in position now,” Landry mentioned.
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Division of Hometown Safety Secretary, Kristi Noem, testifies sooner than the Senate Committee on Hometown Safety and Governmental Affairs on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 17, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Occasions
In a commentary to The Epoch Occasions, Noem mentioned she vows to “absolutely equip our intelligence and regulation enforcement to come across and save you terror threats of all aspects.”
“We will be able to ship fast reduction to American citizens within the face of herbal failures, empower our courageous women and men in regulation enforcement to do their jobs, and take away legal extraterrestrial beings and unlawful gangs from our nation,” she added.
With the secretary now at the activity, thank you partially to the paintings of his personal fingers, Landry believes his state’s Tremendous Bowl festivities will ship an impressive message.
“We’re going to place it on within the town of New Orleans in reminiscence of the ones sufferers to mention, hi there, wager what, we don’t worry, we don’t bow to terrorism, and we’re going to make where secure,” he mentioned.
Down in New Orleans the place the blues was once born, issues are beginning to glance up.