With new Trump cabinet, it’s out with the old swamp and in with a new kind of bayou

Plus, South Dakota constituents respond to Noem’s potential departure to D.C. 

Over the past week, President-elect Donald Trump has rolled out a slew of utterly baffling cabinet selections. Compared to his previous administration — which featured more traditional conservative selections like Jeff Sessions, Rick Perry, Rex Tillerson and Elaine Chao (wife of Sen. Mitch McConnell) — this rendition of MAGA features a mish-mash of media personalities, hard-right ideologues, former presidential opponents, eccentric tech billionaires and former Democrats.

And with Republican control of the Senate and House, many of these deeply unqualified picks will likely receive the green light. 

There are, of course, some familiar faces; anti-migrant sycophant Stephen Miller, who helped author the Muslim ban and cheered on child separation at the border, returns as deputy chief of staff for policy. In a similar vein, Tom Homan will be Trump’s “border czar.” Homan was the acting director of Immigration and Customs throughout Trump’s first term and has said he will use U.S. Special Operations to fight Mexican drug traffickers — and undermine Mexican sovereignty. 

And Mike Huckabee, father of former Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has been tapped for ambassador to Israel. 

Then we have what we’ll call the Fox News Brain Damage choices. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is being offered up for Homeland Security secretary. Pete Hegseth, an actual Fox News host, has been drafted for Defense secretary. Hegseth's only experience in government has been his service as an Army platoon leader at Guantanamo Bay. Still, this has not stopped him from having very strong opinions on how to run the military. 

Meanwhile, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb — also known as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy — will be tasked with creating the nascent Department of Government Efficiency. The irony of having two heads for a new division of government designated to cutting back on public sector bureaucracy is not lost on us.

Another close Trump ally from his 2024 campaign will get her due: Former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has been rewarded with a seat at the table. She’ll be director of national intelligence. 

Key Trumpian congressional allies were also remunerated, Elise Stefanik is in for United Nations ambassador, as is Lee Zeldin for Environmental Protection Agency director. And the controversy-marred Matt Gaetz, who currently represents Florida’s 1st Congressional District, was announced as Trump’s pick for attorney general on Wednesday afternoon. 

Trump’s selection of Stefanik, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for Secretary of State and Mike Waltz for National Security Advisor (APNSA) were praised by John Bolton, who served as Trump’s APNSA from 2018-2019. Bolton had a tumultuous relationship with the president-elect and his movement, the former viewing his neoconservative ideology as antithetical to the “America First” principles of MAGA. 

‘No experience as a border state leader’: Noem’s rumored DHS nomination annoys constituents

By Zach Shaw

With President-elect Donald Trump filling his cabinet with loyalists, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) getting the nod for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security doesn’t raise many eyebrows. Noem’s allegiance to Trump goes back to the early days of his first campaign, and for many of her constituents, her loyalty to him came at their expense. 

“Kristi is a deeply divisive individual who is being rewarded for being a hateful, selfish governor who doesn’t care about South Dakota or anyone who lives here,” says Katie Rose of Sioux Falls. Rose is a single mother who thinks politicians like Trump and Noem are setting a bad example for her child’s generation. “She has been absolutely blinded by her cultish adoration of Trump and has never made the safety and success of her constituents a priority — especially Native American tribes.”

Noem, who has been in South Dakota politics since 2006, is no stranger to controversy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem imposed minimal public health initiatives and discouraged mask-wearing and social distancing, which caused the health care system in South Dakota to nearly collapse. The 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which Noem encouraged to occur, is widely seen as one of the largest super-spreader events of the pandemic. 

She also repeatedly made bizarre endorsements from her official accounts and made light of transgender youth depression in her state.

Throughout her time as governor, Noem has repeatedly clashed with the Native American tribes in South Dakota. Her administration initiated multiple lawsuits against the tribes regarding a variety of disputes, including everything from alleged collusion with drug cartels to tribal sovereignty. These clashes made global headlines earlier this year after the tribes unanimously voted to banish her from their lands. Noem’s memoir, “No Going Back,” received widespread ridicule after much of the book was found to be false and included a shocking passage about Noem shooting and killing one of her family’s dogs. 

Elizabeth Shaw, an immigration attorney who lived in South Dakota for much of her life, moved to Massachusetts as a result of the vitriolic environment Noem created in the state. Shaw has grave concerns about what Noem’s leadership at DHS might look like.

“She has no law degree and no experience as a border state leader. Her leadership style is crass and offensive — how can we trust our border’s administration with someone who has shown that they lack empathy?” Shaw told Heartland Signal. “We knew Trump’s DHS pick was going to be harmful, but Noem is going to create serious problems and a web of legal mess.”

While Noem still has to be formally nominated and approved by the Senate, her checkered history is likely to generate significant blowback from Democrats. Regardless of how Noem intends to lead the department, the nomination is likely to be seen as the culmination of decades of work for Noem, who has eagerly been positioning herself for the national political scene. With Republicans solidly in control of the upper chamber, her ascent to Trump’s cabinet is all but certain.