The Buzz in Kristi Noem’s Home State

Updated at 1:00 p.m. ET on February 20, 2026. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has faced intense scrutiny from Republicans and calls for her firing from Democrats since the January 24 shooting of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. Now Noem’s tenuous standing with the Trump White House is creating concern in her home state of South Dakota that she might leave the Cabinet to challenge Senator Mike Rounds in the state’s June Republican primary. Political allies of Rounds have begun preparing for this scenario, even…

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