Weekly Round[s] Up: March 8 - 14, 2026
Welcome back to another edition of the Weekly Round[s] Up. This past week was an exciting week as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed the Senate. Our office helped author nearly 25% of this legislation which modernizes rural housing programs and cuts unnecessary red tape that has been slowing housing development. This is the first major update to the Rural Housing Service in over a decade and it is now on its way to the House of Representatives for final passage. Additionally, I hosted many South Dakotans in the office for meetings, attended hearings, briefings, speaking engagements and more. More on this and the rest of my week in the Weekly Round[s] Up:
South Dakota groups I visited with: South Dakota School Nutrition Association; South Dakotans with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; David Reiss, Executive Director of Central South Dakota Enhancement District and Lynne Keller Forbes, Executive Director of Southeast Council of Governments; South Dakota Bankers Association; South Dakota Soybean; Matthew Brakke, Agent at Great Plains General Office with New York Life Insurance Company; South Dakota TRIO Educators; South Dakotans with Afterschool Alliance; and Jose Marie-Griffiths, President of Dakota State University.
I also attended a Senate Youth Program Reception and met Chloe from Pierre!
Met with South Dakotans from: Brookings, Lake Preston, Madison, Mellette, Miller, Mitchell, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Spearfish, Sturgis, Valley Springs, Vermillion and Yankton.
Other meetings: Tom Schultz, Chief of the USDA Forest Service; General Randall Reed, Commander of the USTRANSCOM; General Grynkewich, Commander of the United States European Command; Katie Sutton, Assistant Secretary of War for Cyber Policy; and Ambassador Ahlin of Sweden.
I also met with Kevin Warsh, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Chairman nominee. Kevin brings deep experience, strong economic judgement and a clear commitment to Fed independence. He will help keep the central bank accountable and focused on its statutory mission. I look forward to supporting his nomination. Once confirmed, I look forward to working with Kevin to protect our economy so American families can thrive.
Additionally, I attended the American Bankers Association 2026 Washington Summit and participated in a moderated discussion with Kirsten Sutton, Executive Vice President of Congressional Relations and Legislative Affairs at American Bankers Association. I also went to the SCSP AI + Education Summit, and did a panel discussion with Yll Bajaktari, CEO of SCSP, and Chris Malachowsky, who is Co-Founder of Nvidia.
I also attended our weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was our speaker this week.
Hearings: This week I attended a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
Briefings: I attended three classified briefings: two with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the third with the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Votes taken: 6 – This week I voted to confirm General Joshua Rudd as head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command. I look forward to working with General Rudd in his new role through my work as the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity.
I also voted for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which passed the Senate 89-10. I helped author nearly 25% of this bipartisan piece of legislation, which is the first major update to the Rural Housing Service in more than a decade. Click here to read the press release, and click here to watch my floor speech on the bill.
My Staff in South Dakota visited: Mitchell and Sioux Falls.
Steps taken: 62,325 steps or 30.43 miles.
Video of the Week: On Sunday, I went on Bloomberg and Fox News to talk about Iran. Click the links to watch.