ROUND[S] UP 2024: A YEAR IN REVIEW
Welcome to the 2024 Round[s] Up: A Year in Review! I hope you had a joyful Christmas season with friends and family, and that your 2025 is off to a great start. I was fortunate to spend the holidays with my loved ones at home in Fort Pierre enjoying our yearly traditions and taking time to reflect on 2024. My team and I are incredibly grateful for the trust and support from our constituents and we remain committed to working tirelessly on behalf of South Dakotans in 2025. Here is a recap of just a few things we kept busy with during 2024:
South Dakotans I met with: I held 135 meetings in DC with folks from our great state.
Visited with South Dakotans from: 119 different towns across the state—from Britton to Edgemont and everywhere in between.
Other meetings: I had 196 other meetings, ranging from Trump’s cabinet nominees to the weekly Senate Bible study.
Votes taken: 308.
Hearings: I attended 62 hearings throughout 2024 for my committee assignments on Armed Services; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Indian Affairs; Veteran Affairs and the Select Committee on Intelligence.
Classified Briefings: I attended a total of 46 classified briefings. These mostly pertain to my work on the Senate Armed Service Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence.
Legislation introduced: In 2024, I introduced 21 different pieces of legislation, ranging from an Act to fast-track combat veterans’ access to health care benefits to a resolution to permanently address federal overregulation in America and a recent piece of legislation to return education to our states by eliminating the U.S. Department of Education. I also cosponsored 73 bills in 2024.
Results: Four standalone bills that I introduced this year were signed into law, either by themselves or part of a larger package. In addition, I authored 40 provisions that passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act in 2024. You can view a full list of those here.
My staff in South Dakota made visits to nearby towns a total of 153 times.
Our office responded to 45,354 incoming messages from constituents in 2024, with the primary concerns being health care, foreign relations and agriculture.
Our office received 545 requests from South Dakotans for assistance with federal agencies, with the primary issues being veterans administration, U.S. citizenship and immigration services and the IRS.
Steps taken in 2024: 1,343,181 steps or 619 miles. That’s about the same distance as walking across South Dakota from east to west AND north to south combined. Always on the move!
As we head into a new year, I am excited to continue working on your behalf in Washington. If you need assistance with any federal agency or simply want to leave a comment or concern, please don’t hesitate to send me a message or call one of my offices in Aberdeen, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls or Washington.
Boring… Puke