       South Dakota District 30 State Senator Julie Frye-Mueller was removed from her two committee assignments yesterday by Senate President Pro Tem Lee Schoenbeck following a dispute she had earlier in the day with a legislative staffer.
The announcement of the punishment was made at the beginning of the Senate floor session without any details and Schoenbeck, Frye-Mueller, and Senate GOP Leader Casey Crabtree all declined to comment after the session..
It’s not clear if Frye-Mueller’s loss of a seat on the Local Government and Health and Human Services Committee is temporary or for the rest of the session.
Either way, both panels will be operating with just 6 members as the bulk of bills will begin to make their way through the legislative chambers.
Frye-Mueller is aligned with a group of contrarian, ultra-conservative Republican members of the South Dakota House and Senate who’ve clashed with the party’s legislative leaders and Gov Kristi Noem the past 4 years.
The 59-year old Frye-Mueller has served in the legislature since 2017 with 2 terms in the House and now 2 terms in the Senate.
Last year, she defeated a primary challenge from then-State Representative Tim Goodwin, who had significant financial backing from both Noem and Senate President Schoenbeck.