Weekly Round[s] Up: July 8-14, 2024

Welcome back to the Weekly Round[s] Up. I wanted to take a moment to remember my good friend and former colleague Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, who passed away early last week. I spent a lot of time last week reflecting on all of my great memories with Jim, from day-to-day events on the Hill like Armed Services committee hearings and weekly Senate prayer breakfast, to some of our bigger meetings like trips to Africa. I also had the honor of sharing a few words about Jim on the Senate floor this week. Jim was a true ambassador for his home state of Oklahoma, his country and most importantly, Jesus. He often said that real friendship did exist in the Senate, even if the media wouldn’t show it.

I would also like to take a moment to discuss this weekend’s events at former President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. I was relieved to hear that the former President is doing fine in the days following the attempted assassination, and incredibly sad to hear of the rally attendee who was killed. I ask that you all join me in continuing to pray for those in attendance and the families of those who were killed and injured. Please also continue to pray for our nation, particularly in the months ahead as we approach November. Political violence has no place in our democracy, ever. Here’s my Weekly Round[s] Up:

South Dakotans I met with: South Dakota representatives from the National Foundation for Ectodermal Dysplasias; South Dakota School Superintendents; Scott VanderWal, President of the South Dakota Farm Bureau; Dzenan Berberovic, Chief Philanthropy Officer at Avera Health; and South Dakota Association of Rural Water Systems.

Met with South Dakotans from: Aberdeen, Custer, Faith, Madison, Pierre, Sioux Falls and Volga.

Other meetings: This past week, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held its annual summit in DC. As a result, I was able to meet with many leaders from NATO countries, including Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada; Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania; Mickey Spajic, Prime Minister of Montenegro; and Hristijan Mickoski, Prime Minister of North Macedonia. We also met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine.

I also met with Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s Ambassador to the United States; Rick Wurster, President of the Charles Schwab Corporation; Dee Choubey, CEO of MoneyLion; and Tonya Wilkerson, Nominee to be Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. I spoke at a breakfast hosted by the Digital Dialogue Forum. I had our Senate Bible Study, where we studied 1 Corinthians 13. I also attended our Senate Prayer Breakfast, where Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire was our speaker this week.

Hearings: I attended five hearings this past week. Two were with the Senate Banking Committee. We had our semi-annual hearing with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. I asked him about the high inflation rates being a direct cause by President Biden’s policies. You can watch a clip of that hearing here. We also had a nominations hearing, where we heard from Christy Goldsmith Romero, nominee to be the new Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. I asked her about the Basel III Endgame proposal and the impact of the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron Doctrine on the relationship between executive branch agencies and Congress. You can watch that exchange here.

I attended two hearings in the Select Committee on Intelligence, one of which was closed; however, we also had one open hearing this week, which doesn’t happen often! I discussed Havana Syndrome with officials from the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. You can watch that exchange here.

Lastly, I attended a nominations hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee, where I gave the introduction for Dr. Michael Sulmeyer, nominee to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy. I’ve worked with Dr. Sulmeyer during my time as Ranking Member of SASC’s Cybersecurity Subcommittee, and I believe he is well-qualified for this position and will do an excellent job of serving our country in this role. You can hear more about Dr. Sulmeyer and watch my full introduction here.

Votes taken: 11 – many of these were on nominations to positions on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and Federal Labor Relations Authority and judge nominations in Illinois and the District of Columbia. We also voted on the Reproductive Freedom for Women Act, a Democrat attempt to return control over abortion to the federal government, rather than with the states where it belongs. I voted no.

Classified briefings: I had a classified briefing as part of my work on the Armed Services Committee’s Strategic Forces Subcommittee.

My staff in South Dakota visited: Aberdeen, Brookings, Chamberlain, Claremont, Isabel, Wall, Webster and Winner.

Steps taken this past week: 41,621 steps or 20.74 miles

Photo of the week:

Meeting with South Dakota school superintendents from Aberdeen, Custer and Madison.