REPORT: Senator’s Senior Staffer Works Second Job As Lobbyist, Raising Ethics Questions

Interesting artifical intelligence, ethics, lobbying, meta, mike rounds, south dakota admin September 8, 2026 0 Comments

REPORT: Senator’s Senior Staffer Works Second Job As Lobbyist, Raising Ethics Questions

A senior adviser to Republican South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, Robert Skjonsberg, has simultaneously worked as a state lobbyist for several high-profile clients, according to a report.

The veteran staffer has been registered to lobby the South Dakota Legislature for more than a dozen clients over the past decade. His clients have included Meta, tobacco giant Altria, conservative think tank the Freedom Foundation, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, the South Dakota Dairy Producers, South Dakota Pork Producers and other trade groups, according to state records reviewed by Politico. (RELATED: House GOP Leaders Don’t Crack The Whip To Advance Agenda Like Dems Do)

Skjonsberg is also listed as a “co-owner” of 605 Strategies, according to its website, which says he helped guide Rounds to victory in the 2002 gubernatorial race, his 2006 reelection campaign and his successful Senate campaigns in 2014 and 2020.

In 2014, The Nation reported that records allegedly showed Rounds’ gubernatorial administration had extended taxpayer assistance to companies in which he and Skjonsberg were investors.

Since Skjonsberg registered to represent Meta last year, Rounds has introduced several bills related to artificial intelligence, a technology in which the social media giant has been investing heavily.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rounds has worked on legislation affecting industries represented by Skjonsberg. This year, the senator introduced bills that would expand grazing land for cattle producers and restrict foreign adversaries from purchasing U.S. agricultural land and businesses, Politico reported.

Senate ethics rules prohibit certain staffers from “affiliat[ing] with a firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other entity for the purpose of providing professional services for compensation.” The rules also restrict Senate employees from allowing outside firms to use their names in connection with compensated professional services, according to Politico.

However, a spokesperson for Rounds told Politico that the office’s general counsel “consulted with the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics, which provided guidance to make certain there was and is no conflict of interest,” adding that “Senate Ethics guidance continues to be followed today.”

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers and Meta both told Politico they had not worked with Skjonsberg since March, when the state legislature concluded its 2026 session.