The 61-39 result tees up a final Saturday morning roll call vote on the Republican South Dakota governor’s Cabinet nomination.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of homeland security, got some heat for rattling off dubious statistics during her Senate confirmation hearing Friday.

The Senate on Saturday approved the nomination of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), putting her at the center of an administration focused heavily on immigration.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) moved a step closer to leading the Department of Homeland Security as the Senate voted on Friday to advance her to a final confirmation vote. Senators voted

Seven Democratic senators voted to confirm South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) as the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), allowing her to lead an agency that will be paramount to President Trump’s plan to crack down on illegal immigration during his second White House term.

The two term South Dakota Gov. was tapped by Trump in Nov. and will be key in enacting the new president's mass deportation plan.

(AP Photo/Ben Curtis) Ranking Member Gary Peters, D-Mich., speaks at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of ...

The job has proved fiendishly difficult in the Trump era. During his first term, the president cycled through no fewer than six Homeland Security chiefs.

Noem, a former congresswoman and current governor of South Dakota, vowed to ensure Biden-era immigration initiatives would be shut down.

The role is key to Trump’s plans for his second term after pledging to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and impose a crackdown at the southern border.

After Sen. Gary Peters' surprise announcement, Michigan Republicans are hoping for their first Senate win in the 21st century.