Senate Republicans on Wednesday elected South Dakota Senator John Thune to serve as Senate Majority Leader when the new Congress convenes in January.
"I am extremely honored to have earned the support of my colleagues to lead the Senate in the 119th Congress, and I am beyond proud of the work we have done to secure our majority and the White House," Thune said in a statement.
"This Republican team is united behind President Trump's agenda, and our work starts today."
Thune, currently the number two GOP leader, is popular among GOP conference members and was viewed as the frontrunner leading up to the closed-door election. He replaces current GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has been the top ranking Republican in the Senate since 2007.
South Dakotans have elected Thune, age 63, to six-year Senate terms in 2004, 2010, 2016, and 2022, so he has 20 years of expereience in the chamber.
Thune will be the point person shepherding President-elect Donald Trump's agenda through the chamber with a 53-47 GOP majority.
In a social media post, South Dakota Congressman Dusty Johnson wrote, "Congrats to my friend @SenJohnThune for being elected as the Senate’s next Majority Leader. You have proven your strength and leadership skills throughout your career. It’s a new day in America and I know you will work closely with the House and President @realDonaldTrump to deliver results for the American people and South Dakotans."
Confirming Trump's Cabinet nominees will be the first order of business in January. Thune, who serves on the Senate Finance committee, has signaled that renewing Trump's tax cuts that were enacted in 2017 are the top legislative priority.
*Additionally, the group PEN America, which opposes book removals from libraries, has found nearly 3,700 instances of Iowa schools restricting access to certain books or removing them from shelves.
The report covers the 2023-2024 school year. It shows a big increase compared to the prior two years, when only 14 books total were removed from Iowa schools.
Iowa was one of the top states for book removals, accounting for about one-third of instances recorded nationwide by PEN America.
The reason for the surge is a state law that prohibits school libraries from offering books that show or describe sexual acts. That law is the subject of ongoing federal lawsuits brought by students, teachers, book publishers and civil rights groups.
The most frequently removed books in Iowa were Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult and Looking for Alaska by John Green, which were each removed 76 times. Picoult and Green are also two of the authors suing over Iowa’s law.
*In other news, Sioux City Public Library officials are zeroing in on a new book that the entire community will be encouraged to read in 2025
Sioux City Reads is a community-based reading program where Sioux Cityans are involved every step of the way, from book selection to completing challenges and attending book discussions.
People should go to the SiouxCityLibrary.org/siouxcityreads to vote on the book that will come from the true crime genre.
The three final books include Among the Bros: a Fraternity Crime Story, by Max Marshall, and Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers, by Frank Figliuzzi, which cites that at least 850 homicides have been linked to a solitary breed of predators in long-haul truck drivers.
The this option is Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries, by Rick Emerson.
The winner will be announced in January.
*In other news, the hospital in Greenfield, IOwa, reopened nearly six months since a tornado severely damaged the facility.
The EF-4 category tornado that tore through Greenfield last spring didn’t directly hit the Adair County Memorial Hospital. But its strong winds and flying debris caused enough damage that the hospital had to close.
Philicia Hancock is the Chief Clinical Officer at the hospital. Hancock said major parts of the hospital are finally up and running, such as the inpatient floor and the emergency room.
“The closest hospital for ER is about 20-25 minutes, and so that’s why we’ve been trying hard to get back open to be able to provide those emergency services that our patients really count on,” Hancock said.
The hospital has already reopened some outpatient services. The May 21 tornado killed four people and injured at least 35.
