Weekly Round[s] Up: March 31-April 6, 2025
We had another busy week out in Washington! We continue to meet with representatives from South Dakota organizations who travel to DC, as well as nominees for positions within the executive branch. We also held another “vote-a-rama” on Friday night into early Saturday morning on a budget resolution. This version includes an extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was included in the House version of the resolution. If these tax cuts are not extended, South Dakotans could pay an average of $2,421 per year in additional taxes. It took us all night, but the Senate was able to pass this budget resolution that gets us another step closer to delivering on President Trump’s agenda: securing the border, bolstering our national security, unleashing American energy and extending tax cuts for hardworking Americans. More on this and the rest of my week in my Weekly Round[s] Up:
South Dakota groups I met with: Representatives from the City of Box Elder; representatives from South Dakota Trade; Mark Luecke, CEO of Medgene Labs; leaders from the Eastern South Dakota Soil and Water Research Farm; Joni Ekstrum, Executive Director of South Dakota Biotech; Ethan Gladue and Taylor Van Emmerik, students at the University of South Dakota who were in town with the Fraternal Government Relations Coalition; South Dakota members of the U.S. Travel Association, including Secretary of Tourism Jim Hagen; Bret Afdahl, Director of the South Dakota Department of Labor’s Division of Banking; South Dakota members of the Small Business Payment Alliance; and South Dakota members of 340B Health.
South Dakota towns represented: Box Elder, De Smet, Hartford, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Tea, Utica and Watertown.
Other meetings: George Street, nominee to serve as Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center; Thomas Mason, Director of the Los Alamos National Lab; Lt. Gen. Heath Collins, Director of the Missile Defense Agency; Matthew Lohmeier, nominee to serve as Undersecretary of the Air Force; Michael Jensen, nominee to serve as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict; Hung Cao, nominee to serve as Undersecretary of the Navy; Brandon Williams, nominee to be Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration; Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi; Dr. Mike Witherell, Director of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab; Dr. Young-Kee Kim, Director of Fermilab; Dr. John Wagner, Director of Idaho National Laboratory; Lara Abrash, Chair of the Board of Directors at Deloitte; and Aaron Lukas, nominee to serve as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence. I spoke to a group from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors who are in town for their annual fly-in event. I hosted our Senate Bible Study, where Galatians 5:16 was our verse of the week.
Hearings: I attended four hearings. Two of them were closed hearings in the Select Committee on Intelligence. The other two hearings were in the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). In the first SASC hearing of the week, we heard from Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, nominee to serve as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. You can watch a clip of my questions here. In the second, we heard from the leaders of U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command. Watch the clip here.
Classified briefings: I had two classified briefings: one as part of my work on the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the other on operations in East Asia.
Votes taken: 36 – As I mentioned, we voted through the night on amendments to the budget resolution. For past vote-a-ramas, because this legislation isn’t able to be filibustered, Senate Democrats have held up the legislation by debating on the floor and offering a series of amendments. Despite the delay, the Senate still passed the budget resolution. In addition to the vote-a-rama, we also voted on nominees to several executive positions and Congressional Resolutions of Disapproval to overturn Biden-era regulations that are still in place from the previous administration.
Legislation introduced: I introduced legislation to help rural hospitals that are at risk of being closed. The Rural Hospital Technical Assistance Program Act would codify an existing pilot program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that provides technical assistance to rural hospitals to prevent closures, improve their financial and operational performance and strengthen essential healthcare services in rural communities. You can read more about this legislation here.
My staff in South Dakota visited: Aberdeen, Custer, Deadwood, Dupree, Ft. Pierre, McIntosh and Timber Lake.
Steps taken: 53,645 steps or 26.42 miles.
Photos of the week:
Leaders from SD Biotech
Leaders with the City of Box Elder
Representatives from the South Dakota Tourism Industry