BRANDON — Incoming U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, signaled Tuesday he’s willing to push back against potential attempts by President-elect Donald Trump to expand presidential power over federal spending.

“Every president is going to come in and try to do as much as they can by executive action as possible,” Thune said. “Congress, in some cases, is going to be the entity that sometimes will have to put the brakes on.”

Thune spoke Tuesday to the Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce and also took questions from reporters. He said Republicans in Congress will work with Trump to achieve shared policy goals.

“The things we want to achieve at present are by and large the same,” Thune said. “How we get there is another matter, and we’ll have to work through that.”

Trump’s pick for his budget director, Russ Vought, served in the same role during the first Trump administration. Vought has since outlined an aggressive vision for presidential power in Project 2025, a 922-page document from the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation.

New Trump budget chief wrote Project 2025’s agenda for empowering the presidency

“The President should use every possible tool to propose and impose fiscal discipline on the federal government.” Vought wrote. “Anything short of that would constitute abject failure.”

Trump has meanwhile tried to assert greater control over the Cabinet selection process, calling for the Senate to recess the chamber early next year so he can appoint whoever he wants without having to go through the confirmation process.

Thune said Tuesday he plans to immediately begin committee hearings on Cabinet nominees when Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2025.

That’ll give the Senate a head start vetting Trump’s nominees before his inauguration on Jan. 20. After Trump is sworn in, Thune expects some nominations to quickly hit the floor of the Senate. 

“The committees can’t report them out until the president is officially sworn in and they’re officially nominated,” Thune told the audience Tuesday in Brandon. “But they could do hearings.”

Thune told South Dakota reporters after the event that even though some questions have been raised about nominees, they “deserve a fair process” where senators question them on their background, qualifications and whether they “ought to be in these really important positions.”

Thune said he has not taken recess appointments off the table if Democrats try to obstruct or delay the confirmation of nominees when they reach the Senate floor, “particularly if they’re well regarded and they have bipartisan support.”

Top priorities for Republican senators heading into the new session of Congress, Thune said, include extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and securing the nation’s southern border. 

Thune said he plans to begin drafting a budget reconciliation resolution to push an extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, key provisions of which expire at the end of 2025. The reconciliation process allows tax and spending bills to pass the Senate with 51 votes, instead of the 60 needed for most Senate legislation. Republicans will control 53 seats in the new Senate and will also control the House.

Failing to extend the tax cuts would lead to a $4 trillion tax increase, Thune said. 

States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau contributed to this report.

The following players have been selected to the South Dakota Volleyball Coaches Association’s 2024 all-state teams. The players are selected to the teams based on votes of the coaches in their respective classes.

First team

Maggie Meister, 5-7, sr., libero, Harrisburg (590 digs, 27 aces)

Gabi Zachariasen, 6-0, jr., outside hitter, Harrisburg (403 kills, .312 hitting pct., 32 aces, 32 blocks, 221 digs)

Emory Brosnahan, 6-0, sr., right-side/outside hitter, Sioux Falls Jefferson (332 kills, 37 aces, 36 blocks, 296 digs)

Emery Thury, 5-10, sr., outside hitter, Watertown (509 kills, .332 hitting pct., 36 blocks, 357 digs)

Keira McManus, 5-10, sr., outside hitter, O’Gorman (171 kills, 45 aces, 70 blocks)

Kate Wiebesiek, 5-6, sr., setter, Sioux Falls Roosevelt (827 assists, 202 digs, 37 aces, 98 kills)

Kaelyn Snoozy, 5-11, sr., outside hitter, Sioux Falls Washington (460 kills, 333 digs, 34 aces)

Second team

Taryn Kirsch, 5-10, sr., libero, Sioux Falls Washington (503 digs, 43 aces)

Abby Gruber, 5-11, jr., middle hitter, Brandon Valley (300 kills, 58 blocks)

Joselyn Samuels, 6-0, fr., setter, Harrisburg (870 assists, 134 digs, 56 aces, 30 blocks, 79 kills)

Lauryn Burckhard, 6-1, so., outside hitter, Aberdeen Central (304 kills, 31 aces, 125 digs)

Isabel Simmons, 6-1, sr., middle/right-side hitter, Sioux Falls Jefferson (266 kills, 79 blocks, 30 aces)

Kyra Hermanson, 5-10, sr., setter, O’Gorman (86 kills, 794 assists, 215 digs, 57 aces)

Cate Legel, 5-10, sr., outside hitter Sioux Falls Washington (320 kills, 37 aces, 286 digs)

First team

Addisen Barber, 5-9, sr., setter, Sioux Falls Christian (928 assists, 184 digs, 47 aces, 145 kills)

Madelynn Henry, 6-0, so., outside hitter, Dell Rapids (478 kills, 50 aces, 33 blocks, 181 digs)

Bentlee Kollbaum, 5-11, sr., outside hitter, Elk Point-Jefferson

Claire Munch, 5-11, jr., outside hitter, Dakota Valley (557 kills, .318 hitting pct., 393 digs, 51 aces, 32 blocks)

Jolie Palmer, 5-6, jr., setter, Miller (515 digs, 81 aces)

Sophi Randall, 6-0, sr., setter, Dell Rapids (887 assists, 243 digs, 153 kills)

Reagan Rus, 5-8, sr., outside hitter, Mount Vernon/Plankinton (473 kills, 38 aces, 332 digs)

Second team

Madelyn Munch, 5-7, so., outside hitter, Dakota Valley (1,060 assists, 51 aces, 250 digs, 63 kills)

Addison Neuendorf, 5-6, jr., outside hitter, Hamlin (395 kills, 52 aces, 402 digs)

Kaedyn Sapp, 6-0, sr., outside hitter, Sioux Valley (363 kills, 54 aces)

Brietta Tims, 5-10, sr., outside hitter, Sioux Falls Christian (380 kills, 220 digs, 50 blocks)

Daynica Witzel, 5-7, sr., outside hitter, Baltic

Honorable mention

Charley Henderson, 5-9, sr., middle hitter, Mobridge/Pollock

Abby Kjenstad, 5-8, jr., outside hitter, Great Plains Lutheran (333 kills, .371 hitting pct., 50 blocks, 425 digs, 34 aces)

Lauryn Kloth, 6-2, sr., middle hitter, Dell Rapids (230 kills, 88 blocks)

Keelie Kuil, 5-8, sr., outside hitter, Winner (335 kills, 321 digs, 39 aces, 26 blocks)

Macy Plucker, 5-8, sr., outside hitter, Canton

Andrea Renkly, 6-0, sr., outside hitter, Elkton-Lake Benton

Jenna Vande Weerd, 6-1, sr., middle hitter, Canton

First team

Lily Van Hal, 5-8, jr., setter/right-side hitter, Chester (357 kills, .421 hitting pct., 668 assists, 100 aces, 30 blocks, 308 digs)

Kyleigh Schopp, 6-0, sr., middle hitter, Warner (477 kills, .359 hitting pct., 30 aces, 82 blocks, 93 digs)

Kailee Frank, 5-7, sr., outside/middle hitter, Burke (375 kills, 42 aces, 337 digs)

Katelyn Schroeder, 6-0, sr., Hitchcock-Tulare (485 kills, .445 hitting pct., 394 digs, 46 aces)

Ashley Haven, 6-0, jr., middle hitter, Northwestern (453 kills)

Jacy Wolf, 5-5, so., outside hitter/setter, Chester (341 kills, 34 aces, 292 assists, 368 digs)

Taylor Hoxeng, 5-4, jr., libero, Gayville-Volin (606 digs, 63 aces)

Second team

Carly Cotton, 5-7, sr., outside hitter, Faulkton Area (487 kills, 75 aces, 602 digs)

Brynlee Landis, 5-8, jr., outside hitter, Colman-Egan (399 kills, 36 aces, 32 blocks, 352 digs)

TyAnn Mortenson, 5-11, sr., middle hitter, Faith

Emerson Carter, 6-0, sr., middle hitter, Castlewood (415 kills, 40 aces, 35 blocks, 107 digs)

Kendal Uttecht, 5-7, jr., setter, Wolsey-Wessington

Honorable mention

Paige Bull, 6-1, sr., middle hitter, Burke (309 kills, .356 hitting pct., 123 blocks)

Jordyn Jensen, 5-4, sr., libero/defensive specialist, Warner (554 digs, 74 aces)

Isabella Stubkjaer, 5-2, sr., libero, Sioux Falls Lutheran (548 digs, 115 kills, 50 aces)

Lila Johnson, 5-8, so., setter/right-side hitter, Hitchcock-Tulare (599 assists, 80 aces, 227 digs, 122 kills)

Samara Clemente, 6-0, sr., middle hitter, Wolsey-Wessington

Marley Guthmiller, 5-8, jr., outside hitter, Ipswich (345 kills, 50 aces, 286 digs)

• 2023 — Class AA (Zachariasen, Meister, Thury, Hermanson and Kirsch, first team; Samuels, second team); Class A (Barber and Randall, first team; Henry and Palmer, second team, Henderson, Plucker and Kollbaum, honorable mention); Class B (Frank, Van Hal and Haven, first team; Schroeder and Schopp, second team; Mortenson and Cotton, honorable mention).
• 2022 — Class AA (Malchow and Meister, second team); Class A (Barber, honorable mention); Class B (Van Hal, first team; Mortenson, second team; and Schroeder and Frank, honorable mention).
• 2021 — Class B (Schroeder, honorable mention).

In case you missed Monday’s NYT Mini, you can find the answers here:

ForbesNYT Mini Crossword Clues And Answers For November 25By Kris Holt

Wondering what an official state sport of South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming is? Not sure what a phone pop-up might be? Don’t worry, because I’m here to help you with the answers for today’s NYT Mini crossword.

The NYT Mini is a quick and dirty version of the newspaper’s larger and long-running crossword. Most days, there are between three and five clues in each direction on a five by five grid, but the puzzles are sometimes larger, especially on Saturdays.

Unlike its larger sibling, the NYT Mini crossword is free to play on the New York Times website or NYT Games app. However, you’ll need an NYT Games subscription to access previous puzzles in the archives.

To help you avoid getting stuck and having to reveal missing letters, here are the NYT Mini Crossword answers for Tuesday, November 26 (spoilers lie ahead, of course):

NYT Mini Crossword Clues And Answers

NYT Mini Across Answers

1 Across: Joint that can be “flicked” — WRIST

6 Across: Official state sport of South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming — RODEO

7 Across: Phone pop-up — ALERT

8 Across: First thing you typically get at a buffet — PLATE

9 Across: Poetry event — SLAM

NYT Mini Down Answers

1 Down: Sandwich alternative — WRAP

2 Down: Toilet paper units — ROLLS

3 Down: Best-case — IDEAL

4 Down: Big name in mattresses — SERTA

5 Down: Ancestral emblem — TOTEM

It took me 0:43 to complete today’s NYT Mini.

Not a bad time at all, especially considering that I missed the first few Across clues at first. WRIST and RODEO should have been obvious in hindsight. I spent a good 10 seconds mulling over ALERT too before cutting my losses and moving on.

I flew through the Down words except for SERTA — not a brand I’m familiar with. But the Across answers were all pretty clear at that point with just a few letters left to fill in.

If you need some help with Wednesday’s NYT Mini, make sure to check out my blog. Meanwhile, if you play other NYT games such as Wordle, Connections and Strands, be sure to check out Forbes Games for our guides to each daily puzzle