Homeland Security Secretary-nominee Kristi Noem said during her hearing that DHS and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency should work more closely with the FBI and the CIA to fight domestic terrorism.
During Noem's hearing on Friday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said, "The New Orleans tragedy was the result of a homegrown terrorist, born in this country, radicalized by ISIS [the Islamic State group], and it reflects the reason why the intelligence community, the FBI, almost all of our law enforcement has said repeatedly [that] domestic violent extremism is the most lethal and persistent threat to our security. ... Shouldn't we focus on ISIS as a threat to this country's security?"
"[H]omegrown terrorism is growing," the South Dakota governor responded affirmatively. "We have more and more incidences."
"What will you do to stop ISIS and other extremist organizations from radicalizing people in this country?" Blumenthal asked.
"What I would say is the cybersecurity and intelligence elements that we have within the Department of Homeland Security have been incredibly siloed," Noem said. "They have not communicated with other intelligence agencies like they should — and partnered."
"I&A [the Office of Intelligence and Analysis] has some interaction, but not enough. We also need to have CISA have interaction with the FBI, CIA to make sure they're working together to stop these types of threats and identify when they're growing among our citizens."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.