Merry Christmas from Governor Kristi Noem and Family

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

In an ever-changing, fast-paced world, it’s easy to get swept up in current events during the holiday season. But on Christmas Eve, I hope everyone takes time to remember the true reason for the season: the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a reminder of the promise made by our loving God. And while we should keep these in mind year-round, it’s a particularly good time of year to keep in mind the teachings of Jesus: love one another, be grateful for all of the good things in our lives and give back to others.

This Christmas, I’m feeling thankful for several things: first and foremost, my family. As most of you know, I’m the proud father to four grown children and grandpa to 11 grandchildren. This year, I’m looking forward to showing our Christmas traditions to my newest grandson Maddox, who was born to my son John and his wife Ashlee in July. One of these traditions is hosting over 100 family members for homemade chicken noodle soup on Christmas Eve (after attending Christmas Eve Mass, of course!).

I’m also grateful for our men and women in uniform, particularly those serving overseas and away from their families during the holiday season. They have sacrificed time with their families so that we are able to enjoy a peaceful holiday at home with our families. I encourage you to take a moment and say a prayer for these servicemembers, or simply to say thank you.

Finally, I am grateful for the opportunity to work for you in the United States Senate. It is an honor to show up to work every day to represent the interests of South Dakota and our people. Thank you for all you do to make our state the greatest place in the world to call home.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours.

If you’ve had a chance to listen to the South Dakota Political Show (with two episodes under our belt now), the former Deputy Commissioner of School & Lands and my podcast partner Mike Lauritsen is featured in an article about Mitchell Community Leaders.  Check it out.

US SENATOR MIKE ROUNDS
WEEKLY ROUND[S] UP:
December 9-20, 2024

Welcome back to another edition of the Weekly Round[s] Up after a busy couple of weeks in Washington. As I’m sure you’ve seen, we spent most of this past week discussing government funding. Last Friday evening, the Senate and House voted to pass a continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown. This bill was far from perfect, but it delivered several key wins for America: keeping government open (meaning our troops and other essential personnel get paid through the holiday season), delivering relief for our farmers and bringing disaster relief to communities devastated by hurricanes this fall.

While the government spending discussions stole the show, this past week we also sent the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to the President’s desk to be signed into law. This bill contains several provisions to support our national security, which you can read more about below. In between all of our important votes this past week, I took time to meet with South Dakota groups, as well as several of President-elect Trump’s nominees. I also received my committee assignments for next Congress, which you can read about below. It’s been a busy month out here in DC and it’s about to get a whole lot busier as we prepare to hit the ground running in January. With a Republican trifecta in the Senate, House and Presidency, we’re ready to get America back on track. Here’s my Weekly Round[s] Up:

South Dakotans I met with: Jim Dover, CEO of Avera and his son Patrick; members of the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Association, including Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate (SWO) Chairman J. Garret Renville, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairwoman Janet Alkire, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Chairman Peter Lengkeek and Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out; members of the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority; and Nikki Gronli, State Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s South Dakota Rural Development team. 

Met with South Dakotans from: Dell Rapids, Ft. Thompson, Pine Ridge, Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Sisseton. 

Cabinet nominee meetings: I met with Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence (DNI). We had an excellent first meeting. As a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence, the committee her nomination will go through before heading to the full Senate, I am looking forward to working with her as she continues to move through the confirmation process.

I also met with John Ratcliffe, nominee for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). John formerly served as DNI under President-elect Trump which has prepared him well for this role. His nomination will also pass through the Intelligence committee. I’m happy to work with him through the nomination process.

I met with Scott Turner, nominee to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. His nomination will go through the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. I look forward to working with him to reduce the regulatory burden for individuals trying to achieve the American dream of homeownership.

Kash Patel, nominee to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was also in my office for a meeting this week. We had a very good conversation about his vision for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I believe Mr. Patel will restore the confidence of the rank-and-file team members within the FBI who work day-to-day to solve crimes in this country. I am confident in President-elect Trump’s choice of Mr. Patel to help the FBI move forward in keeping Americans safe.

I also met with Russell Vought, nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, and Paul Atkins, nominee to chair the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other meetings: Michael Tackett, a journalist who covers national politics; Senator-elect Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware; Bruce Byrd, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Palo Alto Networks; Harold Hamm, Executive Chairman of Continental Resources; Tim Teter, General Counsel at Nvidia; Roselyn Tso, Director of the Indian Health Service; Lt. Gen. Burt Field, CEO of the Air and Space Forces Association; a group of veterans and active duty military who were on Capitol Hill to talk about the issues they’re facing; General B. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations within the U.S. Space Force; and Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology. I was also a keynote speaker at the Wharton Future of Finance Forum.

I hosted Senate Bible Study in my office for the past two weeks. Our verses of the week were Philippians 2:16 and Luke 2:10-11. I also attended Senate Prayer Breakfast both weeks.  

National Defense Authorization Act: This past week, the Senate and House passed the final version of the FY25 NDAA and sent it to President Biden’s desk. This piece of legislation, which I helped craft as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, contains several wins for our national defense. These provisions are designed to support our men and women in uniform by doing everything we can to make certain they never enter a fair fight and always have the upper hand over our adversaries.

The list of these provisions is long, so I won’t put them all here, but two of our major wins for South Dakota are $282 million authorized for construction projects at Ellsworth Air Force Base and $2.6 billion authorized for procurement of B-21s. You can read more about the bill and view a full list of my provisions here. 

Continuing Resolution: As I mentioned, the Senate passed a Continuing Resolution late on Friday night to avert a government shutdown. The final bill set the next funding deadline at March 14, 2025 and included disaster relief funding, particularly for states affected by the devastating hurricanes this fall, and relief for farmers. Our budget and appropriations process in Congress has been dysfunctional for far too long. It’s my hope that come next year, we can return to doing appropriations the way we should: working through the committee process and bringing these bills to the floor before the end of the fiscal year, instead of continually kicking the can down the road with a series of CRs and shutdown threats. 

Committee assignments: Speaking of appropriations, last week we received our committee assignments for the new Congress beginning in January. I will remain on the Armed Services, Banking, Intelligence and Indian Affairs Committees. I’ve also added one new committee: the Senate Committee on Appropriations. It’s been almost 30 years since Congress passed all of its required appropriations measures on time. I look forward to working with my colleagues on Appropriations to promote returning to regular order for our budgeting process and return to commonsense fiscal conservatism under a Republican trifecta in the 119th Congress. With this new assignment, I will no longer be serving on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, but I will continue to work on Veterans issues. You can read more about my committee assignments here.

Votes taken: 23 – we once again had several controversial Biden administration nominees. These nominees were for judge positions in Georgia, Pennsylvania and California, as well as positions on the National Labor Relations Board and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

We also voted on the CR and NDAA, which I’ve mentioned above. In addition, we voted on the Social Security Fairness Act. I voted no along with 22 of my colleagues. This bill costs $196 billion and impacts only 4% of Social Security beneficiaries. It directly increases our mandatory spending and accelerates Social Security’s looming shortfall by about six months. We must act to make Social Security solvent long term without harming the current beneficiaries.

Hearings: I attended five hearings over the past couple of weeks. Four of them were closed hearings with the Select Committee on Intelligence. The other was a Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing where we heard from Rohit Chopra, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. You can watch a clip of my questioning here.

Classified briefings: I attended three briefings, two of which were classified: one classified briefing on Anomalous Health Incidents and one classified briefing on the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. A third briefing on Dataminr was a briefing only – not classified.

My staff in South Dakota visited: Aberdeen, Custer, Deadwood, Dupree, Hot Springs, Huron, McIntosh, Philip, Pierre, Timber Lake, Wall and Watertown.

Steps taken this past week: Week 1: 47,799 steps or 23.92 miles, Week 2: 49,041 steps or 24.37 miles

Video of the week: I joined NewsCenter1 after the NDAA passed to discuss the bill:

As 2024 is closing, US Senator Mike Rounds is changing the guard slightly in his campaign structure.

Current member of the Board of Regents and Former State GOP Chair Pam Roberts has been designated as the campaign treasurer for the Rounds for Senate campaign in filings made with the Federal Elections Commission this weekend, changing out from former State Senator Barb Everist.

Rounds F1A Dec2024 by Pat Powers on Scribd

As Pam is more local to Senator Rounds’ home base in Pierre than Barb is in Sioux Falls, it could mean that Senator Rounds is getting ready to fight a more aggressive primary election effort in 2026, and Pam is a veteran of many election battles.

Which is smart, given the upheaval that the Republican Party in South Dakota has been and will continue to experience through the next election.

Stay tuned, as I’m sure we’ll see more moves on the board in coming months.

Attorney General Jackley, Yankton County State’s Attorney-Elect Larsen Announce Watertown Man Indicted in Yankton Officer Involved Shooting

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley and Yankton County State’s Attorney-Elect Tyler Larsen announce that Andrew Jondahl of Watertown has been indicted on four charges in connection with an officer involved shooting that occurred Dec. 5, 2024 in the parking lot of the Yankton High School.

Jondahl was indicted Friday by a Yankton County Grand Jury. He was indicted on two felony counts of Aggravated Assault on A Law Enforcement Officer, one misdemeanor count of Possession of a Firearm While Intoxicated, and one misdemeanor count of Possession of a Firearm on Public Elementary or Secondary School Premises. The felony counts each carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. The Possession of a Firearm While Intoxicated charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in the county jail, and the Possession of a Firearm on Public Elementary or Secondary School Premises carries a maximum sentence of one year in the county jail.

An investigation by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) found that two Yankton Police Officers were justified in shooting Jondahl who demonstrated a clear and present danger to law enforcement and the public. Jondahl received four non life-threatening gunshot wounds and was hospitalized. The Attorney General’s press release and shooting summary on the incident can be found here: https://atg.sd.gov/OurOffice/Media/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?id=2718#gsc.tab=0.

Jondahl’s bond was set at $100,000 unsecured as long as he remains in a medical facility. Upon his release from a medical facility, the bond will change to $100,000 cash only.  Jondahl remains hospitalized and will be processed on his warrant at a later date with subsequent court appearance to be determined. He presumed innocent under the U.S. Constitution.

The case is being prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office and Yankton County State’s Attorney’s Office.

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The US House Ethics Committee has released the report of their investigation into the conduct of Congressman Matt Gaetz. And let’s just say that his stepping back from being Attorney General was probably a good thing:

The House Ethics Committee found “substantial evidence” former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., participated in “prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use” and obstruction of Congress in a long-awaited report on alleged misconduct by President-elect Donald Trump’s original choice for the next U.S. attorney general, according to multiple reports.

“The record overwhelmingly suggests that Representative Gaetz had sex with multiple women” at a 2017 Florida party, “including the then-17-year-old, for which they were paid,” the committee found, according to CNN and CBS News.

Read the entire story here.

Now, if they can only get Robert Kennedy Jr. out of contention for being a crackpot.

Improving National Security for a Dangerous World
By Sen. John Thune

Looking around the world today, there is an increasing level of instability. American service members have come under attack in the Middle East. China is taking brazen actions in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Israel and Ukraine continue to defend themselves against unjustified aggression. And there is a disturbing trend of collaboration among our adversaries to sow chaos and challenge American influence and interests.

The United States military stands guard against these threats and countless others. It’s critical that it has the resources and capabilities it needs to deter threats against America and to respond, if necessary. But our military readiness is not where it needs to be. Adversaries are outpacing us in defense investments, and we’re falling behind in critical technologies. The number of combat-ready Air Force planes and Navy ships is approaching record lows, the supply and production of munitions is inadequate, and our military relies on a rapidly aging infrastructure. We need to turn this around.

Congress recently passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2025. It’s not a perfect bill, but it begins to address some of these critical challenges. It upgrades our capabilities in advanced technologies like hypersonics, missile defense, drones, and artificial intelligence. It addresses our munitions challenges, expands Navy shipbuilding, and reverses the shrinking Air Force fleet. It ensures the Pentagon is focused on defense, not diversity programs. It supports our allies in Israel and Taiwan, and it provides a pay raise to our troops and a larger pay hike for junior enlisted members.

This bill takes important steps toward closing the readiness gap, and South Dakota will play an important role in this effort. In 2019, the Air Force designated Ellsworth Air Force Base as the first home for the B-21 Raider mission. The B-21 will be the backbone of the Air Force’s bomber fleet, a long-range strategic bomber capable of projecting power and deterring threats around the world. This year’s NDAA fully funds the coming mission at Ellsworth, as well as investing in the support facilities that will be necessary for the new mission.

Looking at Ellsworth today, it’s hard to believe that the base was slated for closure not long after I was first elected to the Senate. I spent some of my first months as a senator in a sprint to save the base. There were some who doubted that a state like South Dakota would have enough clout to protect Ellsworth. But we got to work, and with the combined efforts of a lot of people, Ellsworth remained open. We didn’t stop there, though. We went right back to work to make sure the base would never again be threatened with closure. Today, it is an undisputed asset to the Air Force and our national defense.

National security has always been a priority for me. I believe in peace through strength. I believe that deterrence works, and it’s a lot cheaper to invest in a strong military by choice than to spend on a war by necessity. I will continue to close the readiness gap and ensure that the U.S. military has everything it needs to defend our freedoms and keep the peace.

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Looking for a Christmas Miracle
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
December 20, 2024

BIG News

Earlier this week, the House put forward a continuing resolution (CR) spending bill that contained too many unrelated provisions. Many members of Congress, including myself, indicated our opposition to that bill.

That caused us to go back to the drawing board. I worked with House leadership and President Trump to craft a clean CR, eliminating 1,400 pages of unrelated policies. Ultimately, Democrats voted against that bill, abandoning disaster victims, letting family farms fail, and shutting down the government.

We’ve continued to work on this issue, and I expect in the next few hours we will be successful in funding government until March, when we can work with President Trump to secure the border and restore fiscal sanity to our nation.

BIG Update

The House DOGE Caucus held its first meeting this week and I was excited to be a part of it. Making our government more efficient and cutting spending is a big priority of the caucus and Trump’s presidency.

We had a great conversation on ideas to streamline the government to make the best use of taxpayer dollars, which is why I would have voted against the CR earlier this week. I heard from many of you who opposed the bill, and I agree, it was too big and spent too much money.

BIG Idea

In 2022, fentanyl was responsible for nearly 70% of drug overdose deaths for adults ages 18-45 – a staggering and preventable loss of life. Most of that fentanyl is coming from China. Steps must be taken to prevent this lethal drug from coming across our borders.

I’m a member of the Fentanyl Policy Working Group within the Select Committee on China and this week, we introduced three pieces of legislation to attack this part of the China threat from all sides. These bills will save lives and make our communities safer.

The bills would:

• Establish a joint task force to counter synthetic narcotics, primarily focusing on fentanyl coming from China.
• Establish new sanctions authorities against actors involved in fentanyl trafficking and expands existing sanctions authorities to target People’s Republic of China (PRC) vessels or ports that knowingly aid in fentanyl trafficking.
• Impose “docking fees” on PRC entities that fail to implement safeguards against the production and export of fentanyl precursors.

Making our communities safer requires securing our borders and staying tough on China.

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Through a Child’s Eyes
By: Gov. Kristi Noem  
December 21, 2024    

Every year, I am always blown away by the decorations at the South Dakota State Capitol. Volunteers decorate dozens of trees and decorate the whole Capitol in a theme. This year, the theme is “Through a Child’s Eyes,” and everything is larger than life to make you feel like a little kid again. If you’ve never experienced Christmas at the Capitol, I would encourage you to do so before the season is over – the last day to see the trees is December 26. 

When my kids were little, I was driving with them out to Rapid City, and we stopped at the State Capitol to see the trees. Booker was about four years old, and when we came in the doors, he threw his arms out and exclaimed, “It’s the North Pole!” So when I think about seeing Christmas “Through a Child’s Eyes,” I remember how Booker saw the Capitol that year.

 This theme truly is a reminder of how we should view the world – and how we should celebrate Christmas. We should look at the world with hope and optimism. We should see everything as new the way that our kids do. Our kids look forward to the holidays because we tell them stories; we spend time with family; we teach our kids about the birth of our Savior and the salvation that He brings. And yes, there’s always gifts, but we also celebrate the gifts we are blessed with like living in the wonderful state of South Dakota in the freest nation to ever exist.

Bryon shared with me that one of his favorite Christmas memories was always going to the Christmas Eve service with his family, particularly holding the candle. He loved being trusted with that candle, and he remembers how magical it was to look around the church  at all the other candles – how quiet and holy it seemed spending time together in worship.

When I was a kid, my parents would always give me and my siblings one gift together. On Christmas Morning, they’d hide it somewhere on our farm and ranch, and we would go on a scavenger hunt as a family to find it. We find notes in the barn, in the shop, or in a tractor – one time a note was taped to a cow’s head – pointing us in the direction of our gift. It might take us an hour or two to solve, but at the end of the hunt, we didn’t just have a present – we had a memory together as a family. That was often much more special than the gift itself.

As kids, we would always get up early and do chores for our dad. We would get up before he even woke up so that we could surprise him with the fact that he didn’t need to do any work on Christmas Morning.

We tried to create those memories for our kids, as well. None of our children were allowed to come out of their rooms until I rang the Christmas Bell. It was tradition that once mom was ready, I’d ring the bell, and the celebration would begin.

I hope that all of you have the opportunity to celebrate your own Christmas traditions this year. Please think about the holiday season “Through a Child’s Eyes.” You’ll find the season even more beautiful, more memorable, and more special. God bless you all – and Merry Christmas!

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