Today’s floor vote in the Senate to suspend the rules, and to suspend Senator Julie Frye Mueller

@SoDakCampaigns

If you’ve been following the Julie Frye Mueller suspension today, I do have the floor vote from today’s Journal in case you wanted to see where your State Senator stood. (odds were more than 3-1 it was a vote to suspend), as 27 State Senators cast a ballot to suspend Frye Mueller for her actions while they investigate the matter:

That’s a lot of “yea” votes, as it was 27 – 6 against Frye Mueller. Excused were Foster & Wiik.  While I don’t know where Foster was, I am informed that GOP Chair John Wiik’s son is a legislative page who took ill yesterday up at the Capital, and dad was stepping into help when this all went down. He did tell me that he would have been a “nay.”

What’s next? Early next week the senate will proceed with a Select Committee on Discipline and Expulsion.  Who will be on this panel?  I’m guessing Dave Wheeler as one of the attorneys in the Senate – who is not in immediate caucus leadership – will be one of the main ones. Doubtful on Schoenbeck since Frye-Mueller is claiming this was orchestrated by him.

I think we’ll also see a panel that’s strongly diverse in terms of gender, since both the accused and the accuser are women. Duhamel, Hunhoff, Tobin, Davis, Castleberry are all possibilities, as are Larson or Foster, two of the Democrats. Probably not Nesiba after that whole pants thing a few years back.

Might also see some higher ups who have organizational experience. Breitling might have had the headache of dealing with HR issues between employees at Avera, as might Steve Kolbeck with his executive experience at XCel and on the PUC.

Lots of good options to choose from to make sure the rights of the employee are protected and she feels comfortable in that environment.

And we will see you next week!

27 thoughts on “Today’s floor vote in the Senate to suspend the rules, and to suspend Senator Julie Frye Mueller”

  1. If this is not resolved soon they will have to start a rumor that JFM committed the unforgivable: she dead-named a trans staffer and used the wrong pronouns. This is the only explanation that will mollify the leftists who will otherwise point to the action as Schoenbeck’s tyranny.
    They need to make this look good.

    1. Did you just create a scenario in your mind and then blame the other political party for the scenario when it hasn’t even happened? That’s…. weird.

    2. This is so on point with the GOP victimhood philosophy, good job! The only thing, besides blaming this on the 4 Dems in the senate, would be to claim some sort of reverse racism. JFM is being persecuted because she is a straight, white, christian, female, an unprotected class! If she was something else, she would get an award, right?

  2. Seems like a gift to an outgoing leader.

    JFM is a sacrifice?

    Looking forward to the details, and to seeing if our Senate is under surveillance.

    It’s funny.

    SD isn’t as red as people think.

  3. I am waiting for the words JFM used. Did she call this person “chicken,” “pond scum,” or tell her she had “rocks in her head” in a documented public setting? Did JFM even say the word “kneecaps”??

    I would recommend all Goldwater Republicans in Pierre wear body cams like LEOs do for rhe same reasons.

    2. Shall we add in “Wackadoodles” and “I wouldn’t let them watch my dog” too? Hypocrisy at it’s finest. LS was looking for trouble. Looks like working on the people’s business is off to a roaring start. Horrible leadership.

    3. Hi Dave glad to hear from you.

      Friend of mine once told me a story about living in the countryside where he could stop out of the shower, into the nude, and into the back yard and contribute to the natural fertilizer. He was doing this one time and looked up to see a hot air balloon getting an eyeful.

      Country roads .. take me home .. to the place ..

      So, my survey question would be, “what offends you more:”

      1 – something JFM might have said with conviction, but was taken harshly by a snowflake
      2 – you look down out of your hot air balloon and someone ATTACKS you with the sight of their unclothed South Dakota bod
      3 – the SD Senate suspends due process
      4 – there is unsecured mass surveillance in the Capitol (no device is secure, as the recent debacle with Noem’s phone proves)

      Have a super day!

      Sincerely,

      John

  4. People who use the term “whackadoodle” with conviction are likely a little numb in between their ears .. proximate cause is perhaps some dental work gone awry (needle plunged too far into the cranial cavity).

  5. We know there was some kind of verbal exchange, right? Has anyone reported what was said? Was it a slur or a threat, or did it cross over into a physical altercation? Seems crazy no one is willing to say anything. What was the comment about protecting or keeping the LRC staffer safe? Seems unusual that EVERYONE is so tight lipped.

  6. If you can’t beat her in elections you’ll suspend the rules i& suspend her Without any due process at all and then we can get Tim Goodwin in there like the governor wants

    Another horrible precedent

  8. I have to believe something horrible was done or said to the staffer. Otherwise this will set a very bad precedent. To strip a duly elected member of all rights and privileges BEFORE any investigation has taken place against all precedent and against the advice of the Lt. Gov. There has to be some very serious accusations. Wasn’t the former Attorney General allowed to continue working AFTER killing a man and while his judicial and impeachment hearings proceeded?

    2. a temporary suspension is different from an expulsion, which is an actual revocation of rights and privileges.

    3. I think you need to keep in mind that it’s an employer/employee relationship, and suspension isn’t an uncommon step if someone said something horrible to a subordinate, as is alleged to be the case here.

      No one is letting it leak, and all anyone will say is that it’s bad.

      1. JFM is NOT an employee of her fellow Senators. If anything, she is an employee of the citizens of the district that elected her. The same citizens who are now not represented in the Senate. To use that as an example is simply not relevant and wrong headed.

Comments are closed.