Weekly Round[s] Up: April 7-13, 2025

Welcome back to another edition of the Weekly Round[s] Up. We had a big week out in DC! Several South Dakota groups were in town to talk about issues that are important to them, everything from clinical oncology to the banking industry to issues impacting tribal members. The Senate recently completed our longest continuous working period in over 15 years thanks to the leadership of Leader John Thune, so I’m especially grateful for all of the South Dakotans who are able to make the trip to DC to visit with us. In addition, I reintroduced the Returning Education to Our States Act, legislation which would eliminate the federal Department of Education and move the most critical federal programs to other departments. More on that legislation and the rest of my week in my Weekly Round[s] Up:

South Dakota groups I met with: Members of the Coalition of Large Tribes, which included several leaders from tribes located in South Dakota; representatives from the South Dakota Section of the American Water Works Association; South Dakota members of the American Society of Clinical Oncology; members of the South Dakota Beer Distributors; members of the South Dakota Bankers Association; members of the South Dakota State Bar; South Dakota State Senator Tim Reed; South Dakota Pork Producers; South Dakota members of the Military Officers Association of America; South Dakota members of the Federation of Exchange Accommodators; students from Bowdle High School; Tom Walsh of Riverview LLP, which has South Dakota locations in Bryant and Veblen; and students from Marty Indian School.

South Dakota towns represented: Aberdeen, Bath, Bowdle, Brookings, Bruce, Burke, Eagle Butte, Ft. Thompson, Mitchell, Mount Vernon, New Underwood, Pierre, Pine Ridge, Rapid City, Rosebud, Scotland, Sioux Falls, Spearfish, Volga and Yankton.

Other meetings: Michelle Bowman, member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; members of the National Shooting Sports Foundation; and members of the Barona Band of Mission Indians.

The Returning Education to Our States Act: This past week, I reintroduced legislation to eliminate the federal Department of Education and redistribute all critical federal programs to other departments. This legislation does not cut a dollar of education funding. Rather, funds will continue to flow directly to states in the form of block grants with other critical programs funded through the appropriate federal agencies. Eliminating the bureaucracy at the Department of Education will save approximately $2.2 billion per year in taxpayer dollars. You can read more about this legislation here as well as look at the list of where each program will end up.

Hearings: I attended four hearings this past week. Two hearings were in the Select Committee on Intelligence. The other two were part of my work on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). In a hearing of SASC’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, which I chair, I introduced Lieutenant General William Hartman, Acting Commander of U.S. Cyber Command. Watch that clip here.

Classified briefings: I attended two classified briefings this past week: one as part of my work on SASC, and one as part of my work on SASC’s Subcommittee on Strategic Forces.

Votes taken: 21 – as I’ve said in past weeks, we continue working to confirm more of President Trump’s nominees to executive positions. One nomination confirmed this past week that I’m particularly pleased about is my friend Mike Huckabee, who was sworn in to serve as the United States’ Ambassador to Israel. Mike served as Governor of Arkansas while I was serving as Governor of South Dakota, and we worked together a lot during this time. I know he will do a great job serving as America’s liaison to our ally Israel, and I was happy to vote to confirm him.

Legislation introduced: This past week, I reintroduced the Rural Housing Service Reform Act, legislation to improve federal rural housing programs and strengthen the supply of affordable housing in rural America. You can read more about this bill here.

I introduced the Health Tech Investment Act, legislation aimed at improving health outcomes for Medicare patients by encouraging the use of cutting-edge, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled medical devices. This bill would establish a consistent and predictable Medicare payment pathway for these technologies, providing patients with earlier and more accurate diagnoses. Read more here.

I also introduced legislation to prevent the smuggling of American-made AI chips into China. The Stop Stealing our Chips Act would amend the Export Control Reform Act to create a whistleblower incentive program at the Bureau of Industry and Security. The program is designed to increase reporting of illegal exports. Read more about this here.

My staff in South Dakota visited: Aberdeen, Hot Springs, Huron, Meckling, Vermillion and Wakonda.

Steps taken: 46,712 steps or 23.46 miles

Photo of the week: This past week was the last week for our spring semester interns in the Washington, DC office. We were lucky to have Nora of Scotland and Adrik of New Underwood with us for the past few months. Both will graduate college next month. We appreciate all of their hard work this semester! We are currently looking for college students to serve as interns for the fall semester. For more information and to apply, visit my website.