Kristi Noem faced controversy over her refusal to close South Dakota businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, charges that she used her influence to secure a real-estate appraiser license for her daughter, and revelations in her 2024 memoir that she shot and killed the family dog.
As secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Noem was criticized for statements made in the wake of the killings in Minneapolis of U.S. citizens Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents. Noem said that both had instigated their interactions with the agents in acts of “domestic terrorism” and that each had intended to cause bodily harm to the officers. Videos taken by bystanders at the scenes of the shootings seemed to contradict that narrative.