
Senator Mike Rounds’ Weekly Round[s] Up
MAY 19-25, 2025
Welcome to the Weekly Round[s] Up! We had yet another busy week out in DC. The highlight of my week was meeting with veterans who traveled to Washington this past week as part of the Midwest Honor Flight. There were 76 South Dakota veterans in attendance representing 37 towns across the state. This group of veterans selflessly served our nation in the Vietnam War, the Korean War and World War II. We’ll never be able to repay them for their sacrifice, but welcoming them to our nation’s capital so they can see the memorials that are dedicated to their service is a great tribute. More on the rest of my week in my Weekly Round[s] Up:
South Dakota groups I met with: Tom Heinz, President of the Coffee Cup Travel Plazas; members of A.B.A.T.E. of South Dakota; Steve Bumann, Chief Investment Officer at BankWest; South Dakota members of the Zero to Three program; South Dakota veterans who were in town as part of the Midwest Honor Flight; South Dakota members of the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association; R.F. Buche, President of the G.F. Buche Company; South Dakota members of the Edward Jones Grassroots Task Force; South Dakota members of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; the American Council of Engineering Companies of South Dakota; Jenny Briest with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation; and South Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Jensen.
South Dakota towns represented: Aberdeen, Belle Fourche, Beresford, Brandon, Britton, Brookings, Custer, Dakota Dunes, De Smet, Deadwood, Dell Rapids, Flandreau, Freeman, Gann Valley, Hartford, Hot Springs, Huron, Lake Preston, Lead, Lennox, Menno, Mina, Mitchell, North Sioux City, Philip, Pierre, Rapid City, Redfield, Salem, Selby, Sioux Falls, Spearfish, Sturgis, Tabor, Tea, Vermillion, Wallace, Watertown, Wessington Springs, Wagner, White Lake and Willow Lake.
Other meetings: General David Allvin, Chief of Staff for the Air Force; and Dr. Ben Ebert, President and CEO of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
I spoke with members of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association ahead of their Legislative Action Day. I attended our Senate Bible Study, where our reading of the week was Matthew 5:13-16.
Hearings: I attended seven open hearings this past week. We had one hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), where we heard from Secretary of the Air Force, and fellow South Dakotan, Dr. Troy Meink. In addition, we had one hearing in SASC’s Subcommittee on Strategic Forces and one hearing in SASC’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, which I chair.
As our appropriations process picks up, so are our Appropriations Committee hearings! I attended three appropriations subcommittee hearings this past week. We had two hearings in the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education, and Related Agencies. We heard from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in one hearing and Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez DeRemer in the other. In addition, we heard from Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum in a hearing of the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.
Finally, we had one hearing in the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Classified briefings: I had one classified briefing as part of my work on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Votes taken: 22 – many of these were related to a Congressional Review Act to overturn a rule in California. This rule, which would go into effect next year, would require 35% of vehicles sold in 2026 to be electric, and reaching 100% of new sales by 2035. If a manufacturer doesn’t meet that goal, they would be forced to pay a huge fine. While this is a California rule, it would affect manufacturing in states across the country, so we voted to overturn it.
My staff in South Dakota visited: Belle Fourche, Britton, Elm Springs, Mobridge, Sisseton, Sturgis and Wakpala.
Steps taken: 54,083 steps or 26.32 miles.
Photo of the week: Pretty special to meet World War II veterans William Butler and George Olson, both of Sioux Falls, at the National World War II Memorial in Washington this past week.

