Free Republic

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Ten states filed a lawsuit Friday to stop President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors, arguing that the requirement violates federal law. Attorneys general from Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming signed on to the lawsuit, which was filed in a federal district court in Missouri. The states asked a federal judge to block Biden’s requirement that all employees of federal contractors be vaccinated against the coronavirus, arguing that the mandate violates federal procurement law and is an overreach of federal power. “If the federal government attempts...

South Dakota has joined a multi-state fight against President Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors, according to a press release sent out Friday by Governor Kristi Noem. “South Dakota is standing up with other states to protect our people from the Biden administration’s illegal mandates,” Gov. Noem said in a statement. “Though they are delaying their announcement of other mandates because they know those would be unconstitutional, we will not wait to fight this federal contractor mandate. We set up our defense with an executive order earlier this week. Now it’s time to go on offense.” Biden announced in...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed a law that restricts transgender students from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity. Texas is the eighth state -- and the largest -- to pass legislation this year addressing transgender athletes' access to sports. South Dakota also enacted restrictions, but did so through executive order. Idaho passed similar legislation in 2020, but it has since been blocked in federal court. The Texas law, known as HB25, passed in the state's third special session. It allows student-athletes to participate only in the interscholastic sports that correspond with the sex listed on...

Republican Governor of South Dakota Kristi Noem has faced criticism from both sides of the political spectrum on Sunday for telling state residents “don’t wait until Monday to celebrate Native American heritage” in an official statement. Noem only referred to October 11 as Native Americans’ Day, and omitted any reference to the date’s long national significance as Columbus Day.“The second Monday in October has been recognized as a federal holiday since 1968. In 1990, South Dakota was the first state to do things a little differently than the rest of the nation,” Noem said. “In South Dakota, we recognize Monday,...

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was reportedly chewed out by Senate Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) after the debt ceiling vote Thursday night. After the vote to approve the debt ceiling increase, Schumer was “confronted” by Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) for a derogatory floor speech towards Republicans, Politico Playbook reported. Thune reportedly told Schumer his speech was “inappropriate and tone deaf.”

Republican Sen. John Thune (SD) may retire and not run in the 2022 midterms. “Obviously, the opportunities in leadership is a consideration — for sure, it’s a consideration,” Thune said. “But there are lots of other (factors) too… I’ve been doing it for 25 years. I think you gotta get into family considerations, personal considerations. And obviously it’s a place where we can make a difference, and that’s why you do it.” When asked “what he’s struggling with,” Thune explained a Senate term is six years. “It’s a six-year commitment,” he said, reportedly noting “he and his wife are having...

While Noem has gone to great lengths to market herself as an uncompromising champion of conservative values, Republican lawmakers, activists, and others working in the state tell National Review that they have grown increasingly concerned about the governor’s close relationship to business interests with a long record of advocacy for far-left social policy. These concerns go beyond the controversy over HB 1217. Sanford Health is ... Noem’s top career campaign funder. Multiple sources in South Dakota politics — including Republican state legislators and a staffer with firsthand experience working in Noem’s office — tell National Review that Sanford has a...

A top White House adviser has escalated the war of words between the Biden administration and Republican governors over the vaccine-or-test mandate for businesses with at least 100 employees — promising that the president would “run over” anyone who opposed the new rule. Cedric Richmond, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and a former Louisiana congressman, told CNN’s “Don Lemon Tonight” Thursday that it was “unfortunate that we have so many governors that are using vaccinations and mask requirements as a political gain.” “But our purpose is to save lives, and we will do anything and everything...

President Joe Biden's workplace vaccine and testing requirement was met with plenty of criticism on Twitter from conservatives and Republican politicians promising to push back on what they view as blatantly unconstitutional overreach. The administration's six-pronged "Path Out of the Pandemic" includes a controversial provision that would require private companies with over 100 employees to require them to submit to either a Covid-19 vaccine or weekly testing. The edict would be enforced by OSHA, the federal agency responsible for worker safety. "We are going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated co-workers," Biden said Thursday. "This is not about freedom or...

Numerous governors have issued statements following Democrat President Joe Biden’s speech on Thursday signaling that they will strongly oppose his attempts to mandate vaccines. Immediate reaction from governors:

South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem claimed in a podcast interview published Thursday she never planned to sign a transgender sports bill to protect female athletes.Noem was pressed over the debacle that began to sink her political stardom on the “Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.” Sexton brought up the issue in the context of the governor turning down piece after piece of legislation that protected individual liberties from vaccine mandates and erasure of women’s sports.“By the way, you said you would sign the trans bill, and then backed off of it, we know that happened,” Sexton said.“That is not...

Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) is not backing Republican legislation seeking to ban so-called vaccine mandates within the state. Republican state Reps. Jon Hansen and Scott Odenbach are trying to null businesses mandating their employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19 through the “COVID-19 Vaccine Freedom of Conscience Act.” Noem claims such legislation is a slippery slope that could lead to other dictates toward businesses Republicans might not like. “If we mandate one thing, are we setting a precedent for what we are telling businesses they have to do far into the future?” Noem posed. The Republican governor has, though, banned vaccine...

Source: Photo/Salena ZitoWALL, South Dakota -- Everything about Wall Drug, arguably the most iconic and long-lasting drugstore in America, exemplifies a doggedness. It took persistence to not only survive, but also thrive against insurmountable odds in a place few thought a small business had any business starting an enterprise in the first place. In 1931, when Ted Hustead and his wife Dorothy were looking for a place to open a drugstore, he picked the thinly populated town of Wall because the local doctor told them he'd give them all his prescriptions, so he told the local paper years later. Despite...

Biden's proposed American Families Plan promises billions to families with children but imposes large increases in farm transfer taxes =============================================================================== President Joe Biden's proposed American Families Plan promises billions to families with children. But paying for it could have a devastating impact on family farms. That's because the plan includes large increases in farm transfer taxes. Craig Hill, the president of Iowa Farm Bureau said, as it stands, the proposal could become law with serious impact on farm families. Hill said the AFP is a major threat to passing farms to the next generation. AFP can be contrasted with vows...

Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a suspect in an assault investigation after Mike Lindell claimed he was attacked at a Sioux Falls hotel. MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell says he was aggressively poked by someone seeking a selfie at his Sioux Falls hotel last week which led him to say he was attacked.

Remember last summer? When Dr. Anthony Fauci and public health experts told us that nationwide protests and riots were required because systemic racism was a more significant public health threat than COVID-19? However, if you protested lockdown orders because it was killing your small business or you attended a Trump rally, you were killing grandma? So much science.To this day, the media tells us that the protests and riots with thousands of people in the streets were not a source of transmission for COVID-19. Then everyone freaked out over the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota. Governor Kristi Noem...

White House medical advisor and epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauci shared his concerns about South Dakota's upcoming Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on Sunday's "Meet the Press," subtly rebuking attendees as host Chuck Todd appeared to suggest it could be another coronavirus "super spreader" event. [cut] "I'm very concerned, Chuck, that we're going to see another surge related to that rally," Fauci said. While Fauci said it was "understandable" that people "want to do the kind of things they want to do," he suggested that rally goers think of the greater good that could come from staying home. "There comes a time when...

Bikers and motorcycle enthusiasts have descended on South Dakota's Black Hills for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, again raising concerns that COVID-19 will rapidly spread among the hundreds-of-thousands expected at the event. Last year's rally drew widespread criticism, as maskless attendees gathered en masse, even as most in-person events were canceled around the country. This year, vaccines have made more gatherings possible — but Sturgis still stands out. Some recent large-scale events, including the music festival Lollapalooza, have required attendees to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test and to wear a mask. Because the nation is currently...

In her latest failure to protect her citizens from the left’s attempts at control, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem surrendered workers in her state to the constantly changing COVID-19 control agenda after she refused to act on businesses’ vaccine mandates.With a tone-deaf statement posted from her personal, campaign-focused Twitter account, the Republican governor told employees concerned that their employer will force them to choose between getting the COVID shot or losing their jobs to take a hike.“Workers whose employers are mandating a vaccine for continued employment have the power to say no. Our robust economy and job market gives them...

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem announced Tuesday that she will join a growing list of Republican governors sending law enforcement officers to the U.S. border with Mexico. Noem’s announcement that she will send up to 50 South Dakota National Guard troops to Texas comes as the GOP ramps up a political fight with President Joe Biden over border security. The issue has drawn a host of prominent GOP figures: former President Donald Trump was expected to travel to the border this week and Republican governors from Florida, Nebraska and Iowa have all committed to sending law enforcement officers for border...