Senator Mike Rounds’ Weekly Round[s] Up: July 27-August 2, 2026
Welcome back to the Weekly Round[s] Up. Big news from the Senate this past week: we confirmed Jay Clayton to serve as the next Director of National Intelligence. I first met Jay in my role on the Banking committee when he was going through his confirmation to serve as SEC chairman. He is well-qualified for this position, and I look forward to working with him in this new role. We also took a procedural vote on our fifth “en bloc” batch of 74 nominees. With the passage of this batch, the Senate will have confirmed 95% of civilian nominations reported out of committee. More on this and the rest of my week in the Weekly Round[s] Up:
South Dakota Groups I Visited With: This past week I sat down with the DC summer interns from Representative Dusty Johnson’s office and Senator John Thune’s office. I enjoyed hearing about all of their unique experiences this summer working on Capitol Hill. They all have bright futures ahead of them and I thank them for all of their hard work serving the people of South Dakota.
Over the weekend, I visited Sturgis for the Annual Raising of the Flags ceremony. We placed 800 American flags in Freedom Field at the Buffalo Chip to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our country. This event was an opportunity to pause and reflect on the lives and sacrifice of the men and women who never made it home. I attended 31 funerals for South Dakota servicemembers while I was serving as governor. I’ll never forget how different the American flag looks when it’s draped over a fallen hero. I appreciate everyone coming together this past weekend to remember freedom isn’t free. A special thanks to Rod Woodruff and his team for putting this together.
Met with South Dakotans From: Aberdeen, Brookings, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Sturgis and Vermillion.
Other Meetings: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President; Wayne Allan, Chief Strategic Sourcing & Procurement Officer for Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography (ASML); David Pemberton, CISA’s Region 8 Director; Bogdan Klich, Head of Mission in the Embassy of the Republic of Poland; Americans for Prosperity Leadership; Dr. Eric Green, Chief Medical Officer at Illumina; Neel Kashkari, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; and Hal Duncan, Nominee to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
On Wednesday morning, I joined my colleagues for our weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast where Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois shared his testimony. I also stayed for the National Prayer Breakfast Cabinet Council meeting.
Later that day, I had the opportunity to speak to interns from across Capitol Hill as part of our summer lecture series. They asked many thoughtful questions about a wide range of topics from my time working in insurance, to legislation I am currently working on. Appreciate all they do. We can’t do our work without them!
I participated in two other speaking events this past week including one at the American Council for Capital Formation’s Policy Forum and the other at the Milken Institute Business Dialogue Event.
Hearings: I attended one hearing this past week with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, where I spoke with Scott Cameron, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Water and Science at the Department of the Interior about South Dakota water issues. Click here to watch.
Briefings: I attended a classified briefing hosted by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and other military leaders from the Department of War.
Votes Taken: I voted 8 times this past week. As I mentioned, we confirmed Jay Clayton to be Director of National Intelligence and voted to advance our fifth en bloc batch of 74 nominees.
I also voted in favor of the Supporting Early-childhood Educators’ Deductions (SEED) Act, which passed the Senate 84 to 12. This bipartisan piece of legislation extends a tax break to early childhood educators.
Additionally, I voted against a resolution to remove United States Armed Forces from Iran and against overturning a rule designed to make child care more affordable and accessible for low-income families.
Steps Taken: 53,972 steps or 26.08 miles
My Staff in South Dakota Visited: Aberdeen, Alexandria, Box Elder, Flandreau, Mission, Rosebud and Plankinton.
Video of the Week: Thursday, July 30th was National Intern Day! Our intern, Olivia from Milbank, South Dakota captured a day in her life while serving South Dakota as an intern on Capitol Hill. Click here to watch.
If you or someone you know is interested in an internship with my office, whether in South Dakota or Washington, D.C., please click here for more information.