Service and Stockyards
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
August 28, 2026

BIG Update

Over 54,000 South Dakotans answered their country’s call to serve during the Vietnam War. They showed great dedication during this time, and many were not given a proper welcome home and thank you from their fellow Americans. Over the last several years, I’ve sought to recognize these brave men and women for their service and provide a proper thanks from their country. It has been an honor to provide these veterans with a commemorative pin and my challenge coin. I’ve shaken the hands of over 1,300 veterans and honored over 1,500 through this program. I hope you will join me in continuing to thank those that have defended our freedoms.

Johnson with veterans in Piedmont

BIG Idea

It was Agriculture Appreciation Night at the Central States Fair in Rapid City this week. This is always a special event and a great chance to connect with producers about the challenges they face. I provided an update on the policies I’m working in Washington, D.C. to support South Dakotans feeding the world. The Farm Bill is moving through Congress, and I’ve been working to get this legislation across the finish line so our farmers and ranchers can have clarity about the future of the agricultural industry.

Johnson volunteers at Central States Fair in Rapid City

BIG News

President Trump signed an executive order this week removing tariffs on 300,000 tons of lean beef trimmings imported into the United States. I have consistently opposed policies that increase foreign beef imports at the expense of American cattle producers. We need to address the affordability challenges our country faces, but the American rancher should not suffer market disruptions in favor of short-term policies. I have raised these concerns with the White House several times, and my position has not changed. American cattlemen have worked hard to rebuild the nation’s herd and meet consumer demand. The additional market pressure will further disrupt the ability of South Dakota ranchers to adequately plan for the future and meet the demands of the market.

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Strengthening Tribal Relations
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
August 28, 2026

I enjoy meeting people where they’re at. It’s far easier to understand where someone is coming from if I can look them in the eye, see and hear their needs for myself, and gain a better appreciation for their perspective. It’s just how I’m wired. And I’ve taken that approach to meeting with South Dakota’s nine tribal nations.

When I took office, in my very first speech to the Legislature, I promised to “reset” relationships with our Tribes. In my first 18 months on the job, I’ve been very encouraged by the results.

This past year, on State-Tribal Relations Day in the Legislature, I had a scheduled meeting with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Well, other tribes heard about it, and suddenly, we had members of 8 tribes filling our conference room, including 6 tribal chairmen and presidents. The room was literally overflowing! We talked about challenges and opportunities. And there were some instances where we disagreed – but we did so agreeably.

The cornerstones of my Administration are openness, responsiveness, and civility. And I’ve especially emphasized that approach in my interactions with the tribes. They know that if they ever have any concerns, then can bring them to me, and I will do my best to help find a solution.

I recently visited the Pine Ridge Reservation to sit down with leaders of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Our conversation focused on economic opportunities. By visiting them where they’re at, I gained a better sense of their challenges and opportunities for myself. It was a productive meeting!

I also recently met with tribal leaders to discuss public safety and law enforcement on our tribal reservations. That topic has been a key focus of mine in my first two sessions as Governor. Our law enforcement deserves respect – at all levels. But for too many years, tribal law enforcement officers have not had the full protection of South Dakota law. This year, we changed that. I supported the bill to recognize tribal law enforcement under the definition of “law enforcement officer.”

On top of that, my Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force is hard at work. And that work includes some tribal-specific rehabilitation opportunities. If we can give inmates the opportunity for true rehabilitation, then we can end the revolving door in our prisons. And we can improve public safety on our tribal reservations.

When I met with our tribal leaders, I did make a couple requests. I asked them to continue working closely with my administration on public safety issues. That collaboration starts with communication, but it can go far beyond that. Tribes have the opportunity to sign Law Enforcement Agreements with my Administration, and I encouraged every tribe that has not yet done so to change that.

After all, crime does not recognize borders. Whether South Dakotans live in Onida or Oglala, Winner or Wagner, drugs are impacting every community.

To reduce crime throughout South Dakota and our reservations, we must look past politics. We must focus on working together. For as long as I am Governor, that is the approach I will take. It will always be my mission to keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free. And that goes for every South Dakota community, including our tribal reservations.

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Working for Farmers and Ranchers
By Sen. John Thune

Agriculture is the lifeblood of South Dakota; it affects communities large and small across our state. In just the last few weeks, I’ve sat down with ranchers in Bison, talked about the ag economy with folks at a grain elevator in Lemmon, and joined agriculture forums at the Brown County Fair, Dakotafest, and in Sioux Falls. Listening to farmers and ranchers is an important part of my job, and these conversations inform a lot of my work in Washington.

No matter where I go, the farm bill is on everyone’s mind. It’s been a challenging few years for farmers and ranchers, both in South Dakota and around the country, and we’ve been working in Congress to help producers overcome recent headwinds. That work began last year with Republicans’ landmark Working Families Tax Cuts legislation, which strengthened a number of programs that producers depend on, such as crop insurance and commodity and livestock programs.

At the beginning of August, the Senate Agriculture Committee considered a five-year farm bill that would build on these investments and make long-overdue farm policy updates. This is an important bill for America’s producers, and I’m disappointed that Democrats chose to put politics ahead of producers and prevented the farm bill from advancing to the Senate floor at this time. But we haven’t given up. Our work continues to get these important priorities across the finish line.

This farm bill includes more than 100 bipartisan bills, among them are many of my priorities that have been informed by conversations with South Dakota producers. My CRP Flexibility and Improvement Act is in this farm bill, which would allow grazing options on all CRP acres and increase the program’s payment limit for the first time in its 40-year history. Other priorities of mine, like greater transparency in the fertilizer market and strengthening smaller meat processors, are also a part of this bill. And I am very proud that it also includes year-round E15, a longtime priority for South Dakota producers and an effort that I’ve championed for decades.

In addition to the farm bill, I’ve also heard from ranchers about increased beef imports. I share their concerns that increasing imports could make it more difficult to increase domestic production in the long term, which is where I think our focus should be. South Dakota ranchers work tirelessly to produce some of the highest-quality beef in the world, and we should be working to support American producers like those in our state and addressing the underlying supply constraints rather than turning to imports.

South Dakota farmers and ranchers work hard every day to feed and fuel America and the world, and I value every chance I get to hear directly from them so I can make their priorities my own in Washington. I’m proud of what we were able to do to support agriculture producers last year in the Working Families Tax Cuts, but our work is not finished. We have more work to do to strengthen South Dakota’s farmers and ranchers now and for the long term.

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Senator Mike Rounds Receives Guardian Award From Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office
Honored for Dedication to Law Enforcement

August 28, 2026 – Sheriff Steve Swenson is proud to announce that Senator Mike Rounds has been awarded the Guardian Award for his outstanding assistance to the South Dakota Lincoln County Sheriff’s office.

“Senator Rounds’s continued support of the federal programs assisted Lincoln County in securing funds for equipment and training to support our law enforcement professionals,” said Sheriff Swenson. “Additionally, Senator Round’s work proves his commitment to keeping our Lincoln County deputies safe and keeping Lincoln County safe.”

Senator Rounds’s leadership in securing Homeland Security Grants for Lincoln County has provided:

• Software for the Internet Crimes Against Children team

• MRAP armored vehicle

• Robot for assessment and remote investigation of dangerous situations

• Digital radios

• Bulletproof vests

The Guardian Award is the highest honor that the South Dakota Lincoln County Sheriff’s office can bestow.

“The Guardian Award is given to individuals who have gone above and beyond in their support of our mission,” said Sheriff Swenson. “Senator Rounds continues to show his dedication and support of law enforcement by helping our deputies fulfill their duties to provide the best possible law enforcement to Lincoln County. We are honored to have him as our United States Senator and to recognize him for his efforts.”

Senator Rounds has been instrumental in helping the Lincoln County Sheriff’s office with assistance in securing additional equipment to keep Lincoln County safe and enhance training and response by deputies.

Please reach out to Sheriff Swenson for further contact at sswenson@lincolncountysd.gov.

After no advertising to speak of in the US Senate Race, Brian Bengs is now claiming to be tied with Mike Rounds?

As if! And monkeys just might fly outta’ my butt!

Indy/Democrat/Republican/whatever party he wants to be today Brian Bengs is on facebook now claiming to be magically tied with Mike Rounds in a recent poll from a firm affiliated with Democrats (so much for not being a democrat).  And absolutely no one is buying that. Even your crazy aunt who believes everything else she reads on facebook is looking at that boast and rolling her eyes.

The same Bengs poll says John Thune and Mike Rounds are underwater. Despite the fact that just this past May, Emerson found Thune with 70% GOP approval, Rounds at 73% and Rhoden at 76%. Those are huge numbers for our incumbents.  Let’s also keep in mind that Democrats have been caught with questionable polls to drum up propaganda and drive donations. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6042644-median-strategies-fake-polls-trust/.

The most accurate sources lately are the prediction markets, and in the story from a couple of days ago they say the odds on Senator Mike Rounds is at 93% likely to win.

You can click on the story which accompanies this graphic at Oddsshopper titled:  Why Mike Rounds (R) Will Win the South Dakota Senate Race. (not beating around the bush, are they?)

Based on the likability of Bengs, 93% could be Mike’s vote margin on election day!

President Trump Endorses Governor Rhoden

Pierre, SD – Today, President Donald J. Trump endorsed Governor Larry Rhoden in his reelection campaign. The endorsement was announced in a post on Truth Social.

“The Great Governor of South Dakota, Larry Rhoden, is doing a fantastic job for ‘The Mount Rushmore State,’” President Donald J. Trump posted on Truth social. “Larry has my Complete and Total Endorsement – HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”

Governor Larry Rhoden thanked President Trump for his endorsement: “Thank you, Mr. President! I look forward to continuing to work with you and your administration to keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free!”

President Trump highlighted Governor Rhoden’s background as a fourth-generation South Dakotan, successful businessman, rancher, former state legislator, and Governor. He highlighted how Governor Rhoden’s career has been “‘loaded up’ with accolades and wins,” including:

• Working tirelessly to champion South Dakota values;
• Promoting our amazing farmers and ranchers;
• Growing the economy;
• Cutting taxes and regulations;
• Unleashing American energy dominance;
• Keeping our borders secure;
• Stopping illegal immigrant crime;
• Ensuring law and order;
• Supporting our brave military, veterans, and law enforcement;
• Safeguarding our elections; and
• Protecting our always-under-siege Second Amendment.

The general election is November 3, 2026. Learn more about the Rhoden-Venhuizen Administration’s results to keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free at RhodenResults.com.

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Flags at Half-Staff in Honor of Dolly Parton

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Larry Rhoden ordered that flags be flown at half-staff statewide effective immediately until sunset on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, as a mark of respect for the memory of Dolly Parton.

This announcement is consistent with President Trump’s order, which can be found here.

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Attorney General Jackley Announces SD to Receive Minimum $52 Million in Multistate Settlement with Meta

PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Marty Jackley announces South Dakota will receive a minimum of $52,612,676 as its share in a landmark $17.1 billion multistate settlement with Meta Platforms, Inc. It is one of the largest state consumer protection settlements in history outside the Big Tobacco settlements of the 1990s. South Dakota’s share of the settlement could grow to $73,480,057 upon certain conditions being met. South Dakota’s share will be paid out over the next 10 years.

The settlement is contingent on the approval of the agreement by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California which is hearing a lawsuit filed against Meta by South Dakota and 28 other states.

“Today’s historic settlement marks a significant milestone in our efforts to protect children online,” said Attorney General Jackley. “We have secured a record monetary award and meaningful safeguards for children and parents setting the new national online standard.”

By securing unprecedented injunctive relief and a record monetary award against any single company, we are ensuring that Meta is held accountable and that meaningful, lasting safeguards are firmly in place.

In addition, Meta must implement a sweeping set of safety features designed to protect children on Instagram and Facebook. The agreement resolves claims by 47 other States and D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands that the company designed Instagram with addictive features, knowingly exposed young users to serious mental harms, and intentionally misled the public about the safety of its platforms, among other things. This settlement is a monumental victory for the protection of America’s children and will fundamentally transform how the entire social media industry designs products for kids and teens.

The settlement requires Meta to implement a series of safety features on Instagram and Facebook, including:

● Hard cap daily time limits and “Productive Pauses” for children: for its two platforms, Instagram and Facebook, a combined two-hour daily time limit with mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use and again at 60 and 90 minutes to interrupt endless scrolling.  These limits remain in effect for five years. If Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube adopt comparable terms, the daily limit on each platform will drop to 60 minutes for 10 years.

● “Nighttime blocks” restricting children’s access from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.

● Limited school-time access for children, eliminating push notifications on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the school year.

● Robust age assurance measures to more effectively verify the age of young users.

● Safer, age-appropriate content controls, including stronger safeguards against bullying, content promoting eating disorders, and content related to suicide and self-harm.

● Stronger, more user-friendly parental controls.

● Limits on social comparison features, including beauty filters and visible “like” counts, that have been linked to poor mental health outcomes in kids and teens.

● Both the implementation and efficacy of the features will be regularly assessed by an independent auditor and the settling states.

Attorney General Jackley and nearly every other Attorney General in the country cooperated to investigate the social media industry for designing and promoting platforms to children and teens despite known harms. After a bipartisan, nationwide investigation found that Meta designed Instagram’s features to addict children while internally documenting the resulting mental health harms and failing to warn parents, 33 attorneys general sued Meta as part of a multistate coalition.

The settlement also resolves the states’ claims against Meta for its sharing of nonpublic information about Facebook users with third parties, like Cambridge Analytica.

Other Attorneys General who signed the settlement are from Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

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South Dakota Democrats have filed their latest FEC Report on activity within their federal account during the month of July.

And while they may not have fielded candidates in a race or two in their last convention, the candidates they do have may actually be able to count on financial support, because they have money in the bank:

August 2026 SDDP FEC Report by Pat Powers

According to the latest report, State Democrats are reporting $26,135.48 in contributions against $54,744.71 in expenses. Leaving them $115,162.29 to put towards their efforts.

There were a couple of interesting items I noticed.    Remember former legislator Nancy Turbak Berry telling us that political parties don’t work, so we should vote for Bengs?  If that’s the case, why is she getting out her checkbook for South Dakota Democrats?:

Granted, it’s an earmarked donation, but I’m just sayin.

I also learned Democrats spent $34.23 at Taco Bell.

Interestingly,  this is more than half-again as much as the $20 the people currently in charge of the South Dakota GOP raised in their federal account during the same period:

Maybe the people in charge of the GOP should open a taco stand? It would be an improvement over what they have been doing so far.

The Beaudion exit from the US Senate race and Beaudion’s column pointing a finger at Indy/Dem/Republican Brian Bengs continues to be a problem for the Bengs campaign.

This is as evidenced by yet another story about it circulating on facebook, this time from the Intellectual Dissatisfaction podcast, noting “Former Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Julian Beaudion says he experienced threatening or intimidating conduct before withdrawing from the race.”

Beaudion isn’t backing down either, as he has recently written another column about Bengs pandering to voters by this former Democrat Candidate switching from referring to himself as an Independent and now pretending he’s somehow “a Teddy Roosevelt Republican:”

Brian Bengs is running on the ballot as an Independent. But recently, while campaigning in Aberdeen and in an interview on CNN, Bengs publicly described himself as a “Teddy Roosevelt Republican” while making clear that he is seeking Republican votes to defeat Senator Mike Rounds.

Is this the same Teddy Roosevelt Republican whose mother was a slave owner? Or the Teddy Roosevelt that campaigned on opposing slavery but not social or political justice or equality? The same Roosevelt who won the Presidential seat by debating that Black people were degenerates and that freedom made Blacks, the “White man’s burden?”

and..

Earlier in this campaign, Bengs talked about the importance of being Independent and escaping the constraints of the two-party system. He wrote that his Independent candidacy allowed him to engage Republicans, Democrats and Independents differently.

There is something to admire about political independence.

But independence should mean something more than removing the letter next to your name.

and…

If Democrats surrender their political identity every time they encounter difficult electoral terrain, eventually there won’t be much of a Democratic Party left to defend.

Read the entire story here.

It looks like not even Democrats are buying Bengs’ act of selling himself as a “pick-a-party” candidate.