Rounds Issues Statement Following Senate’s Passage of Continuing Resolution, Appropriations Package

WASHINGTON (Mitchell Now) — After 41 days of a government shutdown, the U.S. Senate has passed a continuing resolution (CR) that reopens the federal government and funds operations through January 30, 2026. The measure also includes three bipartisan appropriations bills — covering Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Legislative Branch — which now move to the House for final approval. U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) issued a statement following the vote, highlighting funding secured for South Dakota and calling for continued work to prevent future shutdowns.

U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) issued a statement following the Senate’s passage of a continuing resolution (CR) combined with three of the Senate’s appropriations bills for FY2026:

“After 41 long days in a government shutdown, the Senate finally passed a CR to reopen the government. This CR continues current levels of government funding until January 30, 2026 and includes three of our appropriations bills in a package known as a ‘minibus.’ It now heads to the House of Representatives for final passage before being signed into law by the President.

“I’m pleased that the final deal to end the shutdown included three of our twelve regular order appropriations bills: Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon-VA); Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (Agriculture); and Legislative Branch. These bills have been conferenced with the House of Representatives and are ready to be signed into law as soon as they pass the House. These bipartisan, regular order appropriations bills represent exactly how the Senate should work. I’m particularly pleased to have secured $21.9 million in projects for South Dakota in these bills, $17.7 million of which is for construction to support the bed down of the B-21 at Ellsworth. We now have until January 30 to work through the remaining nine bills. Five of these have already been passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“It’s now time to move forward and continue working on our regular order appropriations process, but we can’t ignore the devastating effect that six weeks of a government shutdown has had on our nation. This purely political shutdown was disastrous for the American people and should not have happened in the first place. Thousands of federal workers have gone without pay, millions of families have had the federal benefits they use to feed their children put at risk and our air travel system has been thrown into complete chaos. It’s my hope that these families who have suffered real damaging effects can move forward with their lives. We must work hard in the Senate to prevent a shutdown like this from happening again.”

Rounds has served on the Senate Committee on Appropriations since January 2025. He serves on the Subcommittees for all three of the bills that passed the Senate on Monday night. Read a list of Rounds’ wins in the MilCon-VA and Agriculture appropriations bills below:

MilCon-VA:

• Includes five of Rounds’ Congressionally Designated Spending (CDS) requests totaling $19.4 million:
  • $4.8 million for planning and design for the Weapons Generation Facility Dormitory on Ellsworth Air Force Base (B-21 infrastructure).
  • $3.5 million for planning and design of the Communications Center on Ellsworth Air Force Base (B-21 infrastructure).
  • $4 million for (11) new munitions storage magazines on Ellsworth Air Force Base (supports Global Strike Command mission requirements and B-21 infrastructure).
  • $5.4 million for (2) munitions storage magazines on Ellsworth Air Force Base (supports Global Strike Command mission requirements and B-21 infrastructure).
  • $1.7 million for aircraft maintenance hangar on Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls.
• Fully funds South Dakota military projects at Ellsworth and in Watertown authorized by the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act:
  • $63 million for B-21 ADD Flight Simulator 2
  • $71 million for B-21 Alert Facility
  • $88 million for B-21 Environmental Protection Shelters 80 Row
  • $75 million for B-21 South Environmental Protection Shelters 60 Row
  • $81 million for B-21 West Alert Apron Environmental Protection Shelters
  • $28 million for Watertown Army National Guard Vehicle Maintenance Shop
• Includes language from Rounds’ Honest Operations for National Cemetery Reporting (HONOR) Act to create a more transparent process for veterans’ burial ceremonies.

Agriculture:

• Includes two of Rounds’ CDS requests totaling $2.5 million:
  • $2 million for SDSU’s Cottonwood Field Station Renovation and Expansion.
  • $500,000 for SDSU’s Transient Animal Research Support Facility.
• Includes language from Rounds’ Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security (PASS) Act to add the Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) for ag related cases and requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to refer potential purchases of ag land that could be a national security risk to CFIUS.
• Includes report language to address issues with Paraguayan beef imports.
• Includes language from Rounds’ Rural Housing Service Reform Act which provides USDA with the same authorities as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the Multifamily Foreclosure Act of 1981.
• Supports efforts by USDA to prevent and control New World Screwworm infestations – including to construct a new facility in the US to provide the sterile insects necessary to prevent and control New World Screwworm.

For a detailed list of South Dakota projects included in the MilCon-VA and Agriculture appropriations bills, visit Rounds.Senate.gov