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January 28, 2025 The Tuesday News Round-Up

January 28, 2025  The Tuesday News Round-Up

Photo: WNAX


NEW SOUTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR LARRY RHODEN ANNOUNCES STAFF CHANGES

PIERRE, S.D. (Austin Goss / SDBA) – Gov. Larry Rhoden announced several staff changes Monday, two days after taking office when former Gov. Kristi Noem resigned to join President Donald Trump’s cabinet.

Among the key changes, longtime governor’s office spokesman Ian Fury will remain as communications director and will also continue to serve as Rhoden’s “unborn child advocate.” However, Fury will not be the governor’s spokesman appearing on day-to-day press releases. A new person will take over that role in soon.

Rhoden also named Mackenzie Decker as his new chief of staff. Decker has worked in state government for 12 years, including roles with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and as a close advisor to Noem. She holds a master’s in administration and organizational leadership from the University of South Dakota.

Former Lt. Gov. Matt Michels will serve as senior advisor and counsel, as first reported by The Dakota Scout. Michels previously held the position under Gov. Dennis Daugaard and served as Speaker of the House.

Darin Seeley will continue as commissioner of the Bureau of Human Resources and Administration, but will no longer serve as the Governor’s Office chief operations officer.

Beth Hollatz, who was a senior advisor to Noem, will retire from state government on Feb. 1. She had worked with Noem for eight years and in Congress with her before that.

More staffing announcements, including Rhoden’s lieutenant governor pick, are expected soon.

 

LT GOVERNOR BECOMING GOVERNOR IS RARE, BUT NOT UNIQUE

PIERRE, S.D. (Todd Epp / SDBA) – When Larry Rhoden took the oath of office as South Dakota’s 34th governor today, he joined a small group of lieutenant governors who have stepped into the state’s highest office following a governor’s departure.

Rhoden assumed the role today (Monday), after Governor Kristi Noem resigned to become the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security. This marks the third time in modern South Dakota history that a lieutenant governor has succeeded to the governorship mid-term.

The most recent transition came on April 19, 1993, when Lt. Governor Walter Dale Miller became governor following the death of George S. Mickelson in a plane crash. Miller sought his party’s nomination for the 1994 election but lost the Republican primary to former Governor Bill Janklow.

On July 24, 1978, Lt. Governor Harvey Wollman assumed the governorship when Dick Kneip resigned to become U.S. Ambassador to Singapore. Wollman had already lost his party’s nomination before becoming governor, having been defeated in the June 1978 Democratic primary by Roger McKellips.

Rhoden will serve the remainder of Noem’s term, which runs through 2026. The former rancher and state legislator from Union Center has served as lieutenant governor since 2019.

South Dakota’s constitution provides for automatic succession of the lieutenant governor if the governor’s office becomes vacant.

 

SOUTH DAKOTA POWER BROKERS: STATE’S INFLUENCE ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REACHES NEW HEIGHTS

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Dakota Scout) – The fallout of the 2024 election finds several South Dakotans at the center of the decision-making that will take place over at least the next two years. From control of the most powerful deliberative body in the world to key posts in Congress to the leader of one of the most consequential federal departments, South Dakotans are positioned to be at the table when decisions are made.

Here’s a look at who they are and what they do:

U.S. Senate

John Thune, 64, Senate majority leader

When Republicans won a three-seat majority in the U.S. Senate in November, the fourth-term senator was on the cusp of claiming the top job in the Senate. One week after that election, the Republican Senate caucus voted to make Thune its majority leader, winning the leader position on the second ballot.

Thune could have a tricky time navigating the Senate’s relationship with President Donald Trump. The Senate has its own customs and rules and is, by design, a deliberative body. In his first term, Trump clashed repeatedly with then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell when McConnell insisted on upholding the powers of the Senate. Trump has already called on the Senate to make his cabinet nominations recess appointments.

But regardless, Thune is in the most powerful position a South Dakotan has been in since the last South Dakotan to be majority leader, Tom Daschle, the man Thune beat in 2004.

Mike Rounds, 70, U.S. Senator

South Dakota’s junior senator enters his 10th year on Capitol Hill as an increasingly influential lawmaker. Assigned to some of the Senate’s most powerful committees — Armed Services and the chamber’s Select Committee on Intelligence — the Pierre native has been on the front lines of the federal government’s advancements in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, regulation, and implementation.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Rounds has legislative oversight of the nation’s military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy, benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System, and other matters related to defense policy. His position on the Select Committee on Intelligence will likely give him a firsthand look at any AI initiatives that come from the White House and the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, being headed by tech mogul and Tesla founder Elon Musk.

Jackie Barber, 46, United States Senate Secretary

A South Dakota native is tasked with overseeing day-to-day operations in the U.S. Senate, not just leading the majority caucus.

Jackie Barber of Onida was sworn in as the 35th secretary of the United States Senate on Jan. 3.

Prior to taking the head clerk role for the U.S. Senate, Barber served as the director for the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. She’s also been chief counsel for the Senate Rules and Administration committee, the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition and Forestry and for the House Agriculture Committee.

She credits her South Dakota roots for her success.

“Growing up in Onida, I learned the value of community and teamwork,” she said. “Those lessons have guided me every step of the way.”

Barber earned her law degree at the University of South Dakota.

U.S. Congress

Dusty Johnson, 48, U.S. House of Representatives

South Dakotans only have one representative in the people’s House, but Rep. Dusty Johnson has become an increasingly influential player on Capitol Hill. Entering his fourth term in office, the Mitchell resident and former chief of staff to Gov. Dennis Daugaard is known as a policy wonk and a bipartisan deal broker.

And he’s leaned into that reputation, helping rally support among the House Republican caucus for Speaker Mike Johnson in the last Congress and serving as chairman of the Republican Main Street Caucus, a group that touts itself as pragmatic conservatives who find “commonsense solutions in Congress.”

While his support for the president had been tepid during Trump’s first administration, that appears not to be the case entering 2025. Johnson is already carrying Trump-backed legislation calling for the U.S. to repurchase the Panama Canal, recently met with the president at Mar-a-Lago, and will be involved in vetting any White House policy proposals and initiatives dealing with a key foreign adversary as a member of the House’s Select Committee on China.

Executive Branch

Troy Meink, 59, Secretary of the Air Force (pending confirmation)

Meink, a Lemmon, South Dakota, native and 1988 graduate of South Dakota State University, has been selected by Trump to lead the Air Force. Though he flew as a navigator in the Air Force following his commission from SDSU’s ROTC program, Meink gravitated to satellites and space, earning advanced degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering. He’s been serving as principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office.

“He is solidly from a space background, unlike any other secretary of the Air Force,” Harrison told Defense News. “I think that it must be intended to send a message that the Trump administration means business when it comes to the Space Force and the prioritization of the Space Force.”

His selection to be Air Force secretary has led defense industry insiders to question whether more resources will be devoted to Space Force. Todd Harrison, a senior defense policy fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told Defense News that the pick was “consequential.”

Kristi Noem, 53, Secretary of Homeland Security

The South Dakota governor was the first in the nation to send her state’s National Guard troops to the Texas border to help stem the flow of illegal migration, and the decision likely earned her a promotion.

Trump nominated her to be his Homeland Security director, a position that under federal law oversees Customs and Immigration Enforcement. During the November election, illegal immigration was one of the issues that drove people to the polls after the Biden administration.

She joins Border Czar Tom Homan in deporting individuals, focusing on those who have committed crimes. Noem’s nomination cleared the Senate’s Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee on a 13-2 vote Monday before the Senate confirmed her appointment Saturday. The Castlewood native was confirmed on a 59-34 vote.

Luke Lindberg, 35, Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs (pending confirmation)

South Dakota Trade President and CEO Luke Lindberg awaits confirmation by the U.S. Senate to take over a key diplomatic role in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Nominated by Trump to serve as under secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, the Harrisburg resident’s new gig would have him brokering trade deals in foreign markets for farmers and ranchers. If confirmed, Lindberg would oversee Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs staff in 95 offices in foreign countries.

“Luke will work to make sure American farmers and ranchers get the smart trade deals that they deserve,” Trump wrote on social media when announcing Lindberg’s nomination earlier this month.

Lindberg comes to the position with familiarity among Trump and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill. The son-in-law of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Lindberg served as chief of staff and chief strategy officer at the Export-Import Bank of the United States during the president’s first stint in office.

 

HOURS LONG STANDOFF IN STORM LAKE IOWA ENDS AFTER MAN KILLED IN GUNFIRE EXCHANGE WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT

STORM LAKE, IA (KTIV) – Authorities are still investigating after a traffic stop Sunday morning in the Storm Lake, Iowa area led to a standoff that ended Monday morning with a fatal officer-involved shooting.

In a press release, the Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS) said 45-year-old Daniel Joseph James Palenik was killed after shooting at law enforcement from inside a barricaded Storm Lake home.

According to the DPS, this incident started on Sunday, Jan. 26 at about 8 a.m. when the Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Office stopped a pickup speeding outside of Storm Lake. The driver of the pickup was identified as Palenik and the DPS says he was uncooperative and made threats against law enforcement during the traffic stop.

Palenik ended up speeding away from the traffic stop and was found in his Storm Lake residence a short time later.

The home was located at the corner of 3rd Street and Oneida, and authorities say Palenik barricaded himself inside.

Between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Sunday, Storm Lake Police informed the community of an active and potentially dangerous situation. Law enforcement locked down the area around Palenik’s house, evacuating some residents and blocking off several streets.

“Due to credible threats involving the potential use of firearms, this area is not safe at this time. We are asking all residents to stay clear of the vicinity and avoid travel through 3rd and Oneida until further notice,” said the Storm Lake Police Department while the standoff was ongoing.

At about 4 p.m. on Sunday, Palenik fired several shots at law enforcement who had set up a perimeter around the house. Palenik continued to fire at law enforcement throughout the standoff, striking occupied vehicles and equipment.

The standoff would eventually end Monday morning when shortly before 3 a.m. Palenik again fired at law enforcement and officers returned fire. Palenik was struck and died at the scene.

The DPS says the officers involved in the shooting are being placed on administrative leave as per department policy.

At around 5:30 a.m. Monday, Storm Lake Police posted to Facebook telling the public they had secured the scene and declared the situation had been resolved.

Storm Lake Police advised people Monday morning to stay away from the area as the investigation is ongoing. A law enforcement presence was expected to stay in that neighborhood for several hours.

This standoff brought in law enforcement agencies from across the area, including:

Storm Lake Police Department

Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Office

Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office

Council Bluffs Fire Department

Storm Lake Fire Department

Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office

Sioux City Police Department

Sac County Sheriff’s Office

Sioux County Sheriff’s Office

Fort Dodge Police Department

Webster County Sheriff’s Office

Iowa State Patrol

State Fire Marshal’s Office

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