Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem received a $139,750 advance - just slightly more than her yearly governor salary - for the book where she detailed her killing her family’s dog and help slow her political ambitions.
Noem is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Homeland Security secretary and she is set to have her confirmation hearing on Friday.
New financial disclosures revealed the advance amount for her 2024 book No Going Back.
The disclosures also show that Noem received $40,000 for her first book advance and that her husband, who works for an insurance firm, has a salary of about $1.1 million.
Noem wrote in her most recent book, about how she attempted to use her dog Cricket’s “aggressive personality” for hunting but that the dog’s behavior problem continued. The governor wrote that Cricket attacked the neighbor’s chickens and that she shot and killed the dog in a gravel pit.
The story went viral when the book was released, and Noem has defended her decision to kill the dog amid widespread criticism.
She was seen as one of the top contenders for Trump’s running mate until excerpts from her book were published. She wrote that she decided “put down” the dog after it attacked the chickens before it “whipped around to bite me.”
“I realized I had to put her down,” Noem wrote, adding that she “hated that dog.”
Appearing on Fox News after widespread criticism, Noem claimed that she made the decision to kill Cricket as a mother fearing for the safety of her children.
“You know, that story was a choice as a mom. The safety of my children versus a dangerous dog that was killing livestock and attacking people,” she said.
Before the book, Noem was considered a contender to be Trump’s vice president pick. But that seemed to change after the dog-killing story. Trump eventually picked J.D. Vance as his partner on the ticket, and Noem was nominated as Homeland Security Secretary.
In her ethics agreement, she stated that she would resign from her post as governor when she’s confirmed to the Trump cabinet. She also plans to divest from the company where she’s a managing member, Ashwod Strategies LLC.
Noem is likely to be confirmed and will lead Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Noem is set to appear before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Friday to take part in her first confirmation hearing. She was initially set to appear before the panel on Wednesday but the hearing was postponed because of delays in the required paperwork.
