Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, March 9, 2025 (CBS/YouTube).
Kristi Noem on Sunday vowed to use “every single one” of her “broad and extensive” authorities as Homeland Security secretary to carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda — including finding and punishing “criminal leakers” that she claims are hiding in the department — saying, “They will be prosecuted, and they could face up to 10 years in federal prison.”
Noem, who was confirmed as secretary in late January, discussed the recent discovery of DHS leakers and her plans to wield her authority for Trump during an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” She confirmed that DHS officials have started giving employees polygraph tests to try and identify people who might be giving information to the press about sensitive government issues — specifically, immigration raids going down across the country — in an attempt to warn undocumented citizens of what’s coming.
“Anyone who is leaking information outside of how something is planned for the safety of those law enforcement officers needs to be held accountable for that,” Noem said. “The authorities that I have under the Department of Homeland Security are broad and extensive,” she told host Margaret Brennan. “And I plan to use every single one of them to make sure that we’re following the law, that we are following the procedures in place to keep people safe, and that we’re making sure we’re following through on what President Trump has promised, that he’s going to make America safe again.”
On Friday, Noem — who made headlines last year for shooting and killing a dog she owned — claimed on social media that DHS officials had discovered the existence of at least two “criminal leakers” embedded somewhere in the department. She said she plans to file for an investigation by the Justice Department and wants the DOJ to pursue felony prosecutions for the individuals involved. Noem echoed those sentiments Sunday while speaking on “Face the Nation” with Brennan.
“These two were leaking our enforcement operations that we had planned and were going to conduct in several cities and expose law enforcement to vulnerabilities, to those ops being jeopardized, to where their lives would be in danger,” Noem alleged. “So they will be prosecuted, and they could face up to 10 years in federal prison because they did that.”
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The DHS head has attempted show how tough she can be in the past, with Noem revealing her dog killing in a memoir last April as a way to position herself as someone who can make hard choices for Trump if needed. The book, titled “No Going Back,” included an anecdote about a time she shot and killed her 14-month-old wirehaired pointer after a hunting trip, believing it had to be done because the dog was “untrainable” and “dangerous.”
Speaking in an interview with Sean Hannity, Noem said: “At the time, I had small children and a lot of small kiddos who worked around our business and people, and I wanted to make sure that they were safe.” In her book, however, Noem unabashedly claimed: “I hated that dog.”
During her “Face the Nation” appearance, the former South Dakota governor claimed there’s leakers “throughout this government” and they all have the same agenda, which is blocking Trump from carrying out his agenda as president — something Noem is looking to stop, she said.
“We have identified two leakers of information here at the Department of Homeland Security who have been telling individuals about our operations and putting law enforcement lives in jeopardy,” Noem said in a video attached to her X post on Friday. “We plan to prosecute these two individuals and hold them accountable for what they’ve done. And we’re going to continue to do all that we can to keep America safe.”
Asked Sunday if she plans to continue administering polygraph tests and probing DHS employees, Noem said: “Absolutely.”
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