Newly released financial disclosures for Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Department of Homeland Security, reveal that she made $139,750 in an advance payment for her book published in 2024, which included her detailing how she had shot and killed a dog.
She also wrote in her ethics agreement that she plans to resign as governor of South Dakota once she’s confirmed to Trump’s Cabinet and divest from a company called Ashwood Strategies LLC, where she is a managing member.
The current governor of South Dakota is on track to be confirmed and become the face of the Trump administration’s illegal immigration crackdown.
Her disclosures also reveal she made $40,000 on her first book advance and that her husband’s salary is about $1.1 million. He works for an insurance firm.
In her latest book, “No Going Back,” Noem detailed a story that went viral about how she tried to redirect her dog Cricket’s “aggressive personality” into hunting. But Cricket’s behavior issues continued, she wrote, and the dog attacked her neighbor’s chickens, leading Noem to shoot and kill it in a gravel pit. She has defended the decision since she received swift backlash for it after her book was published.
She will appear before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Friday for her first confirmation hearing. She was previously scheduled to appear Wednesday but the hearing was pushed back due to paperwork delays.
