Senator Mike Rounds’ WEEKLY ROUND[S] UP: March 2-March 8, 2026

@SoDakCampaigns

Senator Mike Rounds’ WEEKLY ROUND[S] UP: March 2-March 8, 2026

Welcome back to the Weekly Round[s] Up. It was another busy week in DC. Lately, I am averaging about 18 events each day, between briefings, hearings and meetings with so many South Dakotans! I appreciate hearing from people across the state on a wide variety of topics affecting South Dakotans. Along with meetings with South Dakota groups, I also stayed busy with hearings, briefings and votes.

One important briefing from this past week to note was the classified briefing for all senators on Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave a satisfactory briefing on the events going on in Iran. While I can’t get into details, know that it is incredible what our military is able to accomplish. We continue to keep our men and women in uniform in our prayers, and our hearts go out to the families of the servicemembers who lost their lives defending our country in this conflict. More on this and the rest of my week in the Weekly Round[s] Up:

 South Dakota groups I visited with: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe; South Dakotans representing National Parent Teacher Association; South Dakotans with the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation; Agricultural Retailers Association; South Dakota YMCA leaders; South Dakota surgeons with American College of Surgeons; American Legion Department of South Dakota; South Dakotans with Ducks Unlimited; South Dakota Broadcasters Association; Department of South Dakota VFW; Christina Oey, Executive Director of South Dakota Humanities Council; Rosebud Sioux Tribe Council; Mickelson & Company LLC out of Sioux Falls; Katie Shmid with the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors; Feeding South Dakota; Dakota Credit Union Association; South Dakotans with Community Transportation Association of America; and South Dakotans with the National Bleeding Disorders Association.

Met with South Dakotans from: Aberdeen, Black Hills, Blackhawk, Brookings, Ellsworth, Garretson, Gayville, Kimball, Onida, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Spearfish, Warner, Watertown and Willow Lake.

Other meetings: LTG Hartman, Acting Commander at U.S. Cyber Command; Nathan McAuley, CEO of Anchorage; and Pierre Yared, Acting Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

I also gave remarks at an Internet Works Middle Tech Mixer where I was recognized as an Inaugural Trailblazer in Innovation.

Hearings: This week I attended two Senate Armed Services Committee hearings; you can watch the first here..

and the second one here. 

 Briefings: I attended three classified briefings: one with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence the second with the Cybersecurity subcommittee; and a Senators-only briefing about current events in the Middle East.

 Votes taken: 4 – This past week I voted in support of funding the Department of Homeland Security once again. I also voted to advance the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, legislation that we worked on in the Senate Banking Committee. I am pleased to see floor action on this bill as my office helped write over 20% of this major legislation. Final passage vote will occur within the next few days. Lastly, I voted nay on a War Powers resolution directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from Iran.

 Bible Study and Prayer Breakfast: This week I attended Senate Bible Study hosted by Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.). The study we went over was titled Insights on Successfully Persevering in Office. I also went to Senate Prayer Breakfast hosted by Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kan).

 My Staff in South Dakota visited: Aberdeen and Onida.

Steps taken: 63,514 steps or 29.26 miles.

Video of the Week: Early Tuesday morning I went on Fox and Friends First to talk about Iran, click here to watch!

22 thoughts on “Senator Mike Rounds’ WEEKLY ROUND[S] UP: March 2-March 8, 2026”

  1. Trump got what he wanted for his billionaire oil buddies with his war in Iran. Sky high oil prices.

    1. it is interesting to compare gasoline prices against postage stamp prices
      in 2012, gas was $3.60/gallon and a first-class postage stamp was 45 cents
      Today, gas is $3.48/gallon and a first-class postage stamp is 78 cents.
      If you were paying for your gas with first-class postage stamps, a gallon cost 8 stamps in 2012, but only 4 1/2 stamps today.

      while one take-away from this is that we all should have invested in Forever stamps in 2012, the other take-away is that by the time Obama was running for re-election, all the Democrats thought high gas prices were wonderful

      1. It’s so cute that you’re comparing today’s prices. Look at yuuuuuuuu

        1. There ya go. Adjusted for inflation, Gas was almost twice as expensive in 2012 as it is now, and you can’t stand it, can you?

          1. I understand why this difference happens and it’s largely due to OPEC price manipulation. There’s no open market. We don’t know the future effects of the “not-a-war” on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in the coming months.

  2. Senator, I take issue with your statement about our fallen service members defending our country. Trump started this war even though he’s now calling it an excursion. It’s a war and we still don’t know quite why he started it. At last count, we are at 15 different reasons and counting. Senator, oversight by Congress is badly needed and long overdue.

    1. Rambler, if you “don’t know why he started it,” you have not been paying attention, starting with how Iran started it in 1979.
      ICYMI: the Iranians attacked the US Embassy on November 4, 1979, took hostages, and didn’t release them until January 1981. Iran has been funding all the bad actors in the area ever since, creating instability among all their neighbors and that’s why nobody is coming to their aid now.
      This action is long overdue.

      1. So his campaign promises were lies and the projection of what democrats would do was just a preview of what he would do? How is the kool-aid in the cult? You guys switch directions as much as the wind. Just go with what dear leader says and dont ever criticize him.

      2. Then why didn’t he do it in his first term. I think most of us know why he did it….OIL & money.

        1. Were you born stupid or did you have to work at it?
          Trump didn’t move on Iran during his first term because Russia would have come to its rescue. And possibly China.
          Both Putin and Xi Jinping were pretty strong then. They weren’t bogged down with their own problems.
          But Putin invaded Ukraine and now the Russian casualties are over 1 million.
          And who knows what Xi is trying to accomplish, purging the PLA of top leadership, over 100 senior officers, and executing generals etc. We can only imagine what that is all about, but it is reminiscent of Hitler’s Night of the Long Knives in 1934, and the sooner we can cut off the supply of Iranian oil to China, the better.

          So neither Russia nor China are currently in a position to rescue Iran. It was a good time to strike.

      3. The whiny leap back to 1979 is the thinnest gruel ever served, as a justification for bombing Iran back into the Stone Age. We are doing this because Trump has this massive military machine, and a friend like Netanyahu to tell him “hey wanna watch that machine of yours do something?” Plus a son in law with billions in real estate deals happening there, too. The only thing Trump remembers about 1979 is the particular people he swindled.
        We are about to hear that our “not a war” was to eliminate Iran’s missiles, Air Force and Navy, and that’s all, so we can pull back and get out since no popular uprising in Trump’s name has arisen.

  3. Rounds, Thune and Johnson. All pathetic Have you no shame? At least pretend to oppose the Fuehrer

    1. wake up. It is Xi Jinping who is following Hitler’s playbook. Ignoring that shit is a mistake the world must not repeat.

    1. …..another dismally unintelligent comment from someone with nothing to say. Many of you are like monkeys throwing feces at people..
      The quality of the commentary on this blog has really deteriorated.

    3. Rounds is arguably the best governor this state ever had, in terms of his vision and leadership in office; his leadership on a regional and national level among his fellow governors; and fortunately for us he hit the ground running from the get go in the US Senate. For every fake accolade that gets heaped on Donald Trump by his cabinet and staff each day, a real accolade could be spared fo Mike Rounds for the effort he makes for our state and nation.

      1. Agreed. He shows up, shuts up, and works. And his staff members will set buildings ablaze to protect veterans. Do I wish he would stand up to Trump’s bs more? Yes. Do I think he’s a good senator? Mostly, yes, I do.

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