{"id":43030,"date":"2024-11-07T15:09:36","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T20:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=43030"},"modified":"2024-11-07T19:31:13","modified_gmt":"2024-11-08T00:31:13","slug":"republicans-take-u-s-senate-with-promises-of-a-donald-trump-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/11\/07\/republicans-take-u-s-senate-with-promises-of-a-donald-trump-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans take U.S. Senate with promises of a Donald Trump agenda"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Tim<\/a>
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, center, is flanked by his wife, Carmen, and Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana) in Bozeman, Montana, following his election victory on November 5, 2024. Photo: Tim Sheehy for Montana<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Republicans take U.S. Senate with promises of a Donald Trump agenda<\/div>\r\n
‘His agenda runs through the Republican-led United States Senate’<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, November 7, 2024<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nA Republican in the White House isn’t the only big change Indian Country is facing as tribes seek to hold the U.S. government accountable for its trust and treaty responsibilities.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nBy winning at least 52 seats<\/a> in the U.S. Senate<\/a>, Republicans have managed to wrest control of the chamber from Democrats. The GOP leadership — many of them with significant ties to Indian Country — is already promising a major shift in the legislative landscape once Donald Trump assumes power as head of the executive branch<\/a> of the federal government.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“President Trump\u2019s victory today is a mandate from the American people to get this country back on track,” Sen. John Barrasso<\/a> (R-Wyoming), a former chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs<\/a>, said in a post on social media<\/a> early Wednesday morning.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“His agenda runs through the Republican-led United States Senate,” continued Barrasso, who currently chairs the Senate Republican Conference<\/a>. “Working together, we will deliver for the American people.”\r\n

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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRepublican Donald Trump claims victory after sweeping nationwide presidential vote\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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Indian Country is waking up to new political realities with Republican Donald Trump headed to the White House after an election season that saw an unprecedented Native vote effort in support of Democrat Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"Indianz.Com\"\t\tIndianz.Com\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nSen. John Thune<\/a> (R-South Dakota), another GOP leadership figure with ties to Indian Country, offered some specifics later on Wednesday. He too said Trump will be able to rely on the Senate to advance a conservative-driven agenda.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“Senate Republicans are ready to get to work to secure the border, renew American energy dominance, and lower costs for families,” said Thune<\/a>, who currently serves as Senate Republican Whip, the person who keeps GOP lawmakers in line. “With President Trump in the White House, we will work hand-in-hand to get America back on track.”\r\n

<\/P>\r\nSen. Steve Daines<\/a> (R-Montana), an active member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, also has been celebrating<\/a> the GOP takeover. As chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee<\/a>, the party’s campaign arm, he was a big supporter of Tim Sheehy<\/a>, the controversial Republican newcomer who pulled off a huge upset in Montana by defeating Democrat Jon Tester<\/a>, a longtime advocate for tribal issues, despite making derogatory comments about Native people<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“I took an oath to serve all Americans in uniform, and as your Senator, I will serve all Montanans,” Sheehy proclaimed<\/a> on Thursday. “We\u2019ve got a country to save, let\u2019s get to work.”\r\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Adria\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tAdria Jawort: \u2018Snake Tongue Sheehy\u2019 still won\u2019t apologize to Native people\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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In true double-down MAGA fashion, I don\u2019t expect Tim Sheehy to apologize to the Crow Tribe or Indigenous peoples of Montana anytime soon for his gross misrepresentation of us.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"Indianz.Com\"\t\tIndianz.Com\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nDaines stood by Sheehy as tribes<\/a>, tribal<\/a> organizations<\/a>, state lawmakers<\/a> and advocates<\/a> demanded an apology for comments in which he repeatedly linked Native people in Montana — more specifically, residents of the Crow Reservation — to alcohol and violent activity. But the “sorry” never came<\/a> even after the Democratic incumbent<\/a> confronted his Republican rival<\/a> during a televised debate<\/a> a month before voters went to the polls.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nUnofficial results from the Montana Secretary of State<\/a> show that Native voters once again stood behind Tester, a former chair and vice chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, as they have done in prior elections. In Big Horn County<\/a>, home to the Crow Tribe<\/a> and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe<\/a>, almost 62 percent of the vote went to Tester.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn Glacier County<\/a>, home to the Blackfeet Nation<\/a>, Tester won nearly 72 percent of the vote, according to the results. And in Blaine County<\/a>, home to the Fort Belknap Indian Community<\/a>, nearly 59 percent of voters supported Tester.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nBut unlike prior elections, the Native vote this time wasn’t enough to offset Montana’s growing non-Native population — a base that easily supported Trump and other Republican candidates across the ballot, including a Republican incumbent serving in a Congressional district created just two years ago<\/a>. Sheehy managed to win 53 percent of the vote statewide, confirming polls that had consistently shown him in the lead against Tester.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nStill, Native voters flexed their power in other ways. They are sending a record 12 Native lawmakers to the Montana Legislature, according to a tally kept by Western Native Voice<\/a>, a Native-led advocacy organization.\r\n

<\/P> \r\n“This year, Native American absentee ballot returns in Montana reached 75.5%. We\u2019re so proud of our communities for showing up despite the challenges,” Western Native Voice said in a post on social media<\/a> on Wednesday.\r\n

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