U.S. Senate
U.S. Senate panel grapples with how to ensure access to water amid Western drought
Decades of drought in the West has made water quality and quantity a major issue requiring government funding and innovation to fix, members of a U.S. Senate panel said Wednesday. Demand for water in growing municipalities is stretching agricultural and tribal communities, while shrinking availability is leading to higher water prices, witnesses told the Senate […]
U.S. Senate to examine AI’s wide-ranging impact, Schumer and Rounds say
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds said Thursday they’re part of a bipartisan and private-sector consensus about the need for government oversight of artificial intelligence on a range of issues. Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Rounds held an informal bipartisan news conference Thursday to discuss […]
Dakota State president moderates artificial intelligence briefing for senators
Dakota State University President Dr. José-Marie Griffiths moderated a briefing Wednesday on artificial intelligence for members of the U.S. Senate, according to Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota. Griffiths said in a news release, “With so many questions about where AI is heading and how it will change the world, it is important that our leaders […]
Senate approves Rounds amendment to block ag land purchases by adversaries
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators approved bipartisan amendments to the annual defense policy bill Tuesday night that would prohibit China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing U.S. farmland and screen American investment in high-tech ventures on foreign adversary soil. By a 91-7 vote (including yes votes from both of South Dakota’s senators), the lawmakers approved […]
‘Lobbying for my right to exist’: US Senate panel examines how states target trans kids
WASHINGTON — Harleigh Walker wants U.S. senators to understand she is a typical 16-year-old girl. She likes Taylor Swift. She enjoys being on her school’s debate team. And she listens way too loudly to music in her room. “I’m just trying to be a teenager in America,” she told senators on the U.S. Senate Judiciary […]
U.S. Senate spending panel sets funding levels for annual bills
WASHINGTON — A group of U.S. Senate Democrats on Thursday approved funding levels for dozens of federal departments for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 — setting up a likely clash with House Republicans as a deadline approaches later this year. The move to advance the spending plan was essential if Congress is going […]
On a record day in D.C. for smoke pollution, U.S. Senate panel debates wildfire strategy
As smoke from Canadian wildfires caused the most hazardous air conditions on record in the Washington, D.C., area on Thursday, members of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said that Congress should lift federal firefighter pay and encourage logging to reduce the risk of future blazes. “Smoke from the wildfires burning right now […]
Effects of climate change on farming, federal spending explored by U.S. Senate panel
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators on the Budget Committee dug into the impacts of climate change on farming during a Wednesday hearing, raising concerns about what the next few decades hold for food production and the way of life. But Republicans and representatives of farm groups pushed back against increased government regulation. Brent Johnson, president of […]
U.S. Senate sends Biden debt limit legislation ahead of Monday default deadline
WASHINGTON — The bipartisan debt limit bill is on its way to President Joe Biden after the U.S. Senate voted Thursday to clear the measure for his signature. The 63-36 vote followed several amendment votes, all of which were rejected. Biden is expected to quickly sign the package, preventing a default on the debt that […]
U.S. Senate votes to block student loan relief, White House will veto
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to overturn the Biden administration’s one-time student debt relief plan that is on hold due to a pending Supreme Court decision. President Joe Biden has vowed to veto the resolution, but the 52-46 vote (with yes votes from South Dakota Republican Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds) […]
Speedier permitting of energy projects gains bipartisan backing on U.S. Senate panel
Members of both parties on the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voiced their support Thursday for reforming the federal process for approving energy projects, saying it should be prioritized to secure domestic energy supply and boost renewable energy. There is bipartisan interest in revising the permitting process and members of both parties have […]
U.S. House GOP wants spending cuts — and also $10B in home-state earmarks
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans have requested more than $10 billion in earmarks to be included in next year’s appropriations bills, despite demanding massive spending cuts as a contingent for raising the nation’s debt ceiling. All but a handful of House Republicans barely pushed through a bill that would temporarily raise the U.S. borrowing limit, […]