Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)

By Editor | May 23, 2022 |

Sen. Joni Ernst

Visit this link for a variety of press releases from Sen. Joni Ernst’s office.

https://www.ernst.senate.gov/news/press-releases

Dear Friend –

Welcome to Joni On the Job, my e-newsletter to get you the latest on my work for you in the U.S. Senate.

My team and I are here to serve Iowans. Please don’t hesitate to send me a message or submit a casework request. For real-time updates, be sure to ‘Like’ my Facebook page, follow me on X and Instagram @SenJoniErnst, and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Here are this week’s highlights:

Announcing a Win for Iowa Landowners

This week, I joined Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin to announce a revision to the definition of the “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) that adheres to the law, cuts red tape, and provides certainty for Iowa farmers, small businesses, and landowners.

For far too long, we have seen this grip of federal government drastically impacting Iowans’ daily lives, which I have been fighting against since my first year in Congress.

I will continue working to protect Iowans from overreaching, burdensome regulations. Read more here and watch my remarks.

Stamping Out EV Waste

The Biden administration’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act authorized $3 billion to help build an electric vehicle (EV) fleet for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Three years later, Biden’s EV postal fleet is lost in the mail and just 93 out of 50,000 vehicles have been delivered.

As Senate DOGE Caucus Chair, I introduced the Return to Sender Act to stamp out waste in Washington and claw back taxpayer dollars that are going to this boondoggle!

Tax dollars should always be treated with first class priority! Read more here.

Lowering Costs for Iowans

When traveling River to River across Iowa, I consistently hear about the struggles that families face in finding and affording high-quality child care.

To address this, I’ve introduced the bipartisan Child Care Availability and Affordability Act that would help lower costs for hardworking Iowans and encourage businesses to invest in accessible child care options, decreasing the burden on working parents.

I will always prioritize the needs of Iowa families! Read more here.

Highlighting the Importance of Crop Insurance

This week, at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, I amplified the testimony of Iowa native Caleb Hopkins, who discussed the importance of crop insurance.

He shared that federal crop insurance is a critical tool in providing certainty for Iowa farmers, especially in the face of natural disasters.

I will keep advocating for our farmers and producers! Read more here and watch my remarks here.

Stopping Secret Spending in Washington

Federal agencies have attempted to hide billions of dollars in spending from the American people.

My bipartisan legislation, the Stop Secret Spending Act, aims to increase transparency and require tax dollars hidden by being labeled “Other Transactions Agreements” to be disclosed on the public website USAspending.gov – just like grants, contracts, loans, and other government expenditures.

I am ending bureaucrats’ game of tax dollar hide-and-seek and stopping the secret spending. Read more here.

Celebrating the Small Business of the Week

Our Small Business of the Week is The Brick Kitchen of Buchanan County!

Since 2021, The Brick Kitchen has cooked up incredible experiences from its hands-on cooking classes to selling flavor-infused olive oils and balsamic vinegar. Where culinary enthusiasts meet high-quality kitchen tools and gadgets, The Brick Kitchen certainly knows how to create excitement in the kitchen! Read more here.

I’m thrilled to continue recognizing small businesses in every corner and county of our state!

Dear Friend –

Welcome to Joni On the Job, my e-newsletter to get you the latest on my work for you in the U.S. Senate.

My team and I are here to serve Iowans. Please don’t hesitate to send me a message or submit a casework request. For real-time updates, be sure to ‘Like’ my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter and Instagram @SenJoniErnst, and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Here are this week’s highlights:

Honoring Sarah Root’s Story

This week, I hosted Iowan Scott Root, father of the late Sarah Root, as my guest at President Trump’s joint address to Congress.

Twenty-one-year-old Iowan Sarah Root was killed on January 31, 2016, the night of her college graduation, by an illegal immigrant driving drunk. A loophole in the law allowed her killer to escape justice for nine years.

Nine years ago, I authored Sarah’s Law to honor her life and ensure what happened to her and her family never happened again. This year, President Trump made this legislation the law of the land.

As President Trump shared his strong message and actions on prioritizing American citizens over illegal immigrants, I was honored to have Scott join me in Washington! Read more here.

Renewing the American Dream

During his joint address this week, President Trump showed that he is hard at work renewing the American dream.

Read my full statement here or below.

Delivering Relief to Iowa Turkey Farmers

The dire animal health crisis due to avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) has caused turkey flock losses and threatened producer stability and the broader national turkey supply.

I joined the entire Iowa delegation in urging U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and the Acting Administrator of the Farm Service Agency Kimberly Graham to deliver critical relief for Iowa turkey farmers by considering aMPV as an eligible adverse event under the Livestock Indemnity Program.

I will never stop fighting for our farmers and producers. Read more here.

Ushering in the Golden Age of American Innovation

This week, I led a Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing where I unveiled my legislation that would reauthorize and reform programs that enable small businesses to bring innovation to the defense industrial base.

I spoke with America’s Small Business Development Center Iowa Associate State Director Austin Strawhacker on how to streamline the program to allow more small businesses to compete in the federal marketplace.

I also exposed how inconsistent vetting standards within the program have allowed companies with ties to China to receive hundreds of millions of tax dollars for critical defense research, including the company of one of the witnesses testifying before the committee.

I will not stop pushing for reforms to usher in a new Golden Age of Innovation for America! Read more here and watch my remarks.

Ending Funding to Planned Parenthood

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was designed to help Americans struggling during the pandemic but was hijacked by the Biden administration to fuel radical abortion-on-demand. I am working with Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler so we have full transparency.

I asked the SBA to share how Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, unlawfully received millions in PPP funding and had 34 loans forgiven by the Biden administration.

Not a single tax dollar should fund abortions! Read more here.

Celebrating the Small Business of the Week

Our Small Business of the Week is Plantpeddler of Howard County!

Shipping over 15 million plants each year, Plantpeddler has rooted themselves as the go-to small business for all horticulture needs. From garden mums to begonias, Plantpeddler serves 3,200 growers domestically and abroad, leafing an impact felt far beyond Iowa. Read more here.

I’m excited to continue recognizing small businesses in every corner and county of our state!

Dear Friend –

Welcome to Joni On the Job, my e-newsletter to get you the latest on my work for you in the U.S. Senate.

My team and I are here to serve Iowans. Please don’t hesitate to send me a message or submit a casework request. For real-time updates, be sure to ‘Like’ my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter and Instagram @SenJoniErnst, and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Here are this week’s highlights:

Exposing Billion-Dollar Boondoggles

This week, I exposed more Washington waste and am working to put an end to it with my Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act. This legislation will require the disclosure of any government project that is $1 billion over budget or five years behind schedule.

From its off the rails projects to nonexistent electric vehicle fleets costing billions, Washington is always finding a way to pay a whole lot more for planes, trains, and automobiles—and just about everything else.

I am slamming the brakes on boondoggles and bringing them to a squealing halt. Read more here.

Ensuring Relief for Iowa Poultry Farmers

Following my advocacy, the United States Department of Agriculture is taking action to address highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), and I am proud to partner with the agency to bring relief for Iowa producers and drive down prices for consumers.

After Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins implemented many of my recommendations to enhance the agency’s response to the ongoing outbreak, I continued to amplify the experiences of producers during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing.

I will continue fighting to mitigate the ongoing HPAI outbreak. Read more here and watch the hearing here.

Fighting for Transparency

This week, I blasted Washington’s overreach on the Senate floor, unmasking the Biden administration’s green energy agenda as a major driver behind the record-breaking 110,000 pages of regulations issued last year that hurt hardworking Americans.

My Regulations Evaluated to Determine The Anticipated Price and Effect Act (RED TAPE Act) will hold rogue regulators accountable and prevent agencies from hiding how burdensome and expensive their regulations truly are.

I will never stop fighting for more transparency. Read more here and watch my full speech here.

Repealing the Federal Death Tax

Iowa farming families and entrepreneurs work for generations to establish farms and build small businesses that are essential to our state’s economy and rural communities.

The federal estate tax, more commonly known as the death tax or inheritance tax, has the potential to hit family-run farms and small businesses following the owner’s death. This is why I’m fighting to permanently repeal this purely punitive tax with the Death Tax Repeal Act.

Iowans should not have to fear the loss of their livelihoods as they grieve a loved one. It’s time to eliminate this crippling tax burden. Read more here.

Celebrating the Small Business of the Week

Our Small Business of the Week is Edgewood Locker of Clayton County!

Edgewood Locker’s seasoned approach has kept them marbled in success. The Kerns’ family recipes truly are a meating of the minds.

They produce award-winning sausages, meat sticks, bacon, and more, resulting in over one million pounds of sausage and almost 500,000 pounds of venison products just last year! Read more here.

I’m excited to continue recognizing small businesses in every corner and county of our state!

Ernst Secures Year-Round, Nationwide E15 Sales for the Upcoming Summer Driving Season

WASHINGTON – Following her continuous advocacy, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) welcomed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement that they will issue an emergency waiver for E15, allowing for the fuel to be sold nationwide during this summer’s driving season.

“Finally, Americans will have access to higher blends of ethanol, like E15, throughout this upcoming summer driving season,” Ernst said.“However, Iowa families, corn farmers, ethanol producers, and fuel retailers should not have to wait for this certainty. As everyone is feeling the pain at the pump, they should have E15 year-long, instead of waiting for the whims of the administration to issue a last-minute waiver. I will continue to push for a nationwide solution that permanently secures lower prices at the gas station.”

Background:

Throughout her time in Congress, Ernst has been a strong advocate for homegrown, Iowa biofuel. In addition to supporting the bipartisan Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act since 2017, Senator Ernst also joined a bipartisan group of Midwest senators in an effort to expand the year-round sales of E15 nationwide in November 2022.

In February 2023, Ernst and the entire Iowa delegation demanded the EPA remove regulatory barriers for gasoline-ethanol blends—like E15—and implement the long-awaited request of Midwest governors, including Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds.

In December 2023, Ernst led her colleagues in urging the Office of Management and Budget to work quickly to finalize its waiver, allowing retailers enough time to prepare for 2024 summer sales.

At a recent Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, Ernst questioned USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack on when we can expect to see an emergency waiver to allow for nationwide sales of E15. In his response, Vilsack was confident we would again see a waiver in April 2024.

In March 2024, Ernst and the entire Iowa delegation urged President Biden to immediately issue an emergency waiver, which would make E15 available across the country and utilize the strength of American agriculture to provide energy independence.

In April 2024, Ernst and a bipartisan group of senators once again called on President Biden to permit the summertime sale of E15 fuel.

Ernst, Warren Announce Bipartisan Bill to Mitigate Blast Overpressure and Protect Servicemembers

Requires Defense Department to enact better screening, tracking, prevention, and treatment

April 12, 2024

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced bipartisan legislation that would direct the Department of Defense (DoD) to help mitigate and protect servicemembers from blast overpressure.

During just three months in 2023, DoD provided treatment to servicemembers nearly 50,000 times for traumatic brain injuries (TBI), which are considered the “signature wound” of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. For troops with mild TBI, the most important cause of brain injury was long-term exposure to explosive weapons. Researchers in Afghanistan also determined that 75% of the troops’ blast exposure was coming from their own weapons. Despite this, servicemembers continue to train with weapons with unsafe blast levels. Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Ryan Larkin and Sgt. 1st Class Michael Froede are textbook examples of this issue. Despite enduring traumatic brain injuries throughout their arduous training and numerous combat missions, these injuries remained hidden from conventional MRI and PET scans. Tragically, both individuals succumbed to suicide due to the untreated wounds they carried.

“As traumatic brain injuries have tragically become the signature wound of this generation of servicemembers, more must be done to ensure these wounds do not go undiagnosed and untreated,” said Ernst, a combat veteran. “Through my bipartisan work in previous defense authorization bills, the military has made strides in diagnosis and treatment of TBI to help servicemembers protect against the effects of blast overpressure. However, given the increase in these injuries, the military must adapt to the needs of servicemembers now. By helping the DoD learn more about the brain and how it responds to blast overpressure, this bipartisan bill can help meet the challenges and injuries of our servicemembers today and in the future. Specifically, our action will help protect our warfighters and honor the servicemembers tragically impacted by TBI by assessing members of our armed forces regularly, mitigating their exposure, and enhancing their access to care.”

“Too many of our service members are suffering the health consequences of blast overpressure, so we need real change to our approaches to prevent these injuries and protect our service members in training and combat,” said Senator Warren. “My bipartisan bill will tackle these pressing challenges from every direction – creating better transparency and brain health tracking, expanding efforts to mitigate exposure and provide treatment, and ensuring accountability that our military is supporting impacted service members.”

“Brain health plays a crucial role in many veterans’ overall quality of life. Head-related trauma, including traumatic brain injury (TBI), is sometimes referred to as the ‘signature injury’ for post-9/11 veterans due to the increased TBI prevalence among veterans of this generation. Wounded Warrior Project’s (WWP’s) 2022 Annual Warrior Survey found that 36.5% of WWP warriors self-reported experiencing TBI due to military service,” said Jen Silva, Chief Program Officer, Wounded Warrior Project. “The Blast Overpressure Safety Act will help protect Service members from blast overpressure and TBI; improve research and data collection regarding brain health and safety; and expand access to effective treatments and support for veterans with brain injury. WWP supports this bill, and we applaud Senators Warren and Ernst for their efforts to address this critical issue.”

Specifically, the Blast Overpressure Safety Act would increase screening, tracking, prevention, and treatment by:

Mandating regular neurocognitive assessments over a servicemember’s career, including a baseline before training;
Create blast overpressure exposure and TBI logs for all servicemembers and improve data on concussive and subconcussive brain injuries servicemembers sustain;
Require DoD to account for blast overpressure safety during the weapons acquisition process;
Enhance efforts to mitigate exposure and help servicemembers’ access care;
Support servicemember treatment by establishing a Special Operations Comprehensive Brain Health and Trauma program and mandating training for medical and training personnel on blast overpressure and exposure and TBI.

Ernst: Biden’s Border Nightmare

April 10, 2024

Biden’s border is a nightmare, but Senate Democrats refuse to wake up and address the crisis.

Hardly a day goes by without hearing of another American who has fallen victim to crimes perpetrated by the illegal immigrants that Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has enticed to our southern border and paroled into our country.

Women in our big cities and small towns are thinking twice before going out into their communities, remembering Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student who was beaten to death by an illegal after a run on her college campus.

While our citizens are sleeping with one eye open, Democrat leaders in the U.S. Senate are turning a blind eye to their own failed border policies.

Last week, they trashed 227 years of precedent by refusing to hold an impeachment trial for Secretary Mayorkas, who was accused of and impeached for derelictions of duty, including “enticing an increasing number of aliens to make the dangerous journey to our southwest border.”

In every previous congressional impeachment, the Senate has been faithful to the trial process set out by our framers. Never before has the Senate abandoned this duty.

How many young Americans must die, and how many families must be ripped apart for Senate Democrats to do their Constitutional duty to uphold the law?

It’s time to wake up and face reality – Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is asleep at the wheel, and his failures have resulted in 7.5 million encounters since President Biden took office. Encounters in Fiscal Year 2023 increased a startling 440% over Fiscal Year 2020.

Meanwhile, police officers are being assaulted in our streets. Violent gang members and criminals are getting ferried to our cities on the government dime, where they amass stores of weapons and commit murder and mass robberies. More and more terrorists and Chinese nationals are showing up on our shores each year.

This could have all been avoided. For more than eight years, I have warned against the dangers of letting violent illegal immigrants – who have already broken our laws – roam the country and continue their lawlessness.

I have repeatedly called on the Senate to protect innocent Americans from criminals who are in our country illegally and pass my bill – Sarah’s Law, named in honor of Sarah Root, a 21-year-old Iowan murdered on the eve of her college graduation.

But Senate Democrats blocked my recent effort to pass this bill, showing once again that they do not take border security seriously.

Sarah and Laken’s deaths—and all the other Americans who should be alive today if Secretary Mayorkas had not enticed criminals to cross our border—are tragic and, unfortunately, are doomed to be repeated under President Biden.

If the American dream is to be extended to our children and grandchildren, we cannot simply give up on securing our border. Only safe communities can thrive.

I’ll continue fighting to protect our homeland and hold this administration accountable.

Ernst Improves Crop Insurance with FARMER Act

April 9, 2024

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) joined Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman (R-Ark.) in leading the FARMER Act. This legislation would improve the affordability and coverage of federal crop insurance by increasing premium support for the highest levels of coverage, shrinking producer deductibles, and ultimately reducing the need for ad hoc disaster assistance in the future.

Unlike Senate Democrats’ proposal, this bill does not require American producers to choose between enhanced crop insurance coverage and commodity support programs, allowing them to make decisions that work best for their operation.

“Time and time again, it’s become painfully obvious that our farmers need improved access to high coverage crop insurance plans that adequately cover all the challenges in a growing season,” said Senator Ernst. “To protect our ag community, I’m fighting to improve federal crop insurance and ensure that dollars in the Farm Bill actually go towards safeguarding our food and fields, not pie-in-the-sky climate change policies.”

“With record drought continuing and Iowa farmers feeling squeezed between lower commodity prices and high input costs, it’s imperative that farmers have access to affordable crop insurance as part of the next Farm Bill,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. “Iowa is fortunate to have Senators Ernst and Grassley fighting on our behalf to ensure that the new Farm Bill has adequate and affordable risk management tools.”

“Enhancing crop insurance protection remains a top priority for Iowa farmers. We thank Sen. Ernst for her continued commitment to the state’s soybean farmers by supporting this legislation, and look forward to seeing this issue addressed before the U.S. Senate,” said Pat Swanson, Iowa Soybean Association board director and Ottumwa farmer.

“The FARMER Act is a crucial step towards ensuring the continued success and resilience of Iowa’s corn farmers and we can’t thank Senator Ernst enough for her co-sponsorship of this bill,” stated Jolene Riessen, Iowa Corn Growers Association President, and a farmer from Ida Grove. “By increasing premium support for the highest levels of revenue and yield coverage and enhancing the Supplemental Coverage Option, the bill addresses the affordability concerns of crop insurance, providing us as corn farmers with the necessary tools to protect our livelihoods.”

Read the legislation here.

Background:

Ernst is dedicated to putting more “farm” in the Farm Bill, including improving crop insurance affordability.

During the 2020 derecho, Ernst urged the United States Department of Agriculture to provide Iowa farmers with additional support and relief as crop insurance was unable to cover all of the total crop losses.

Ernst Calls on Biden Admin to Protect Jewish Students from Pro-Hamas, Anti-Semitic Mobs

WASHINGTON – Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) joined her colleagues in demanding Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona restore order to campuses that have been effectively shut down by anti-Semitic mobs targeting Jewish students. The senators requested an immediate update on efforts to protect Jewish students.

“You need to take action to restore order and protect Jewish students on our college campuses. President Biden issued a statement on Sunday, purporting to condemn the outbreak of anti-Semitism. If that statement was serious, it must be accompanied by immediate action from your departments,” the senators wrote.

Read the full letter here.

Background:

As left-wing activists on college campuses continue to erode American students’ First Amendment rights and attack Jewish students following Hamas’s brutal assault on Israel, Ernst introduced the Students Bill of Rights Act. This bill creates a universal speech and association protection standard at all public institutions receiving Title IV funding so students can fully participate in their academic community.

Ernst recently led her colleagues in demanding the Department of Education uphold its legal obligations to ensure Jewish and Israeli students are not subjected to discrimination. She also sponsored the Stop Antisemitism on College Campuses Act to cut federal funding for any college or university that excuses or encourages antisemitism.

Ernst Calls Bureaucrats to Work as Social Security Admin Ignores Iowans

After a whistleblower revealed that the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Sioux City field office was failing to respond to Iowans, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Congressman Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa) followed up on her oversight of the impact of federal agency’s telework abuse.

In a message to Ernst, an Organizational Payee whistleblower exposed the Sioux City SSA field office’s habit of ignoring simple requests for weeks and months at a time, denying everyone involved access to answers and assistance, imparting significant delays on beneficiaries, and failing to provide substantive updates.

“Multiple reports have surfaced of Organizational Payees in Iowa experiencing egregious delays with their SSA field office. Alarmingly, the SSA field office in Sioux City, Iowa has established a pattern of ignoring outreach from Organizational Payees entirely,” the lawmakers wrote to the SSA Inspector General (IG).

“As expressed in the previous letter, it is well past time for the federal workforce to return to work at their duty stations. With hybrid and remote working now standard practice for the federal workforce, it is crucial to ensure not one of the more than 677,000 Iowans relying on the SSA for benefits and services annually are being negatively impacted by the arrangement,” the lawmakers continued.

“When federal employees largely abandoned their offices to work remotely four years ago at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, these essential workers kept showing up to serve the vulnerable, disabled, and elderly. Now, these folks could lose access to those service providers who they rely upon if SSA’s unresponsiveness and delays put them out of business. This situation demands immediate attention, and we cannot tolerate its continuation,” the lawmakers concluded.

Background:

Since August 2023, Ernst has been demanding investigations into 24 federal departments and agencies to determine the impact of telework on the delivery and response times of services. In November 2023, the SSA OIG responded to Ernst and subsequently initiated an audit in January 2024 on changes in productivity at the SSA, including human capital and service delivery.

In December 2023, Ernst exposed that, almost four years after COVID-19 temporarily closed federal buildings, not a single government agency was utilizing even half the office space in their headquarters. The SSA headquarters, which recently underwent a multi-million dollar renovation, tops the list of most underutilized, with just seven percent of its office space being used.

Ernst Calls to End Taxpayer-Funded Terrorism and Border Disorder

United Nations Staff Carried Out Terrorist Attacks, Contribute to Illegal Immigration

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is working to permanently end U.S. taxpayer funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and redirect the unspent money intended for that United Nations (UN) agency towards the construction of a wall along America’s southern border.

The U.S. contributes more than $18 billion in taxpayer dollars to the UN a year, which is about a third of the agency’s entire budget.

However, Ernst points out that at least a dozen staff members of UNRWA helped Hamas plan and carry out the October 7 terrorist attacks against Israel that killed hundreds of people, including 32 American citizens. Additionally, the UN is contributing to the humanitarian and national security crisis at our southern border by distributing millions of dollars in financial assistance to help support migrants who are crossing into our country illegally.

“Funding the UN is like paying for a security system that enables, rather than deters, intruders,” Ernst said. “U.S. taxpayers shouldn’t be giving billions of dollars to an international organization facilitating the crisis at our southern border and whose own staff helped harm and take hostage American citizens. Not another cent to terrorist sympathizers. We could make the world a safer place by putting those tax dollars to better use securing our own border, instead of facilitating illegal immigration, and helping our friend, Israel, eliminate the threat of Hamas.”

Ernst: Taking Attendance at the White House — Friday, January 26, 2024

Imagine one of your coworkers skips out—for days—and nobody, not even the boss, notices.

Sounds pretty farfetched, since the workplaces I’ve visited across Iowa are pretty short-staffed these days. Just one missing team member would be immediately obvious to everyone. That is, unless the absent employee is the head of a government agency, like the Department of Defense, and the boss happens to be the President of the United States.

With wars in Europe and the Middle East, and the Pacific teetering on the brink, America’s defense chief went AWOL for four days this past month. Meanwhile, the Commander-in-Chief and de facto head of the Pentagon were also both out of the office, on tropical islands far away from Washington.

Without informing the White House or his own senior staff, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin went under general anesthesia on December 22 for a medical procedure. A little over a week later he was rushed by ambulance back to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he would be hospitalized for the next two weeks. Austin’s chief of staff also happened to be out on sick leave at the time the Secretary was admitted to the hospital.

Biden wasn’t even aware his Secretary of Defense was away from the job until he was informed days later during his weeklong Caribbean vacation, where he was relaxing at a private beachfront villa owned by big dollar Democratic donors.

Also without the president’s knowledge, the Defense Secretary transferred some of his responsibilities to his deputy, who coincidentally was vacationing in the Caribbean on a different island, Puerto Rico. Austin’s “deputy ended up running the Pentagon from the beach.”
Folks, the defense of our nation isn’t a part-time job. While the president and his advisors are busy packing for sandy island beaches, thousands of men and women in uniform are being deployed to the shifting sands of the Middle East, where American citizens are being held hostage by terrorists right now. And Iranian-backed militants have launched more than 100 attacks against U.S. troops in the region over the past three months.

“Out of office” messages bounced back by Biden administration officials on leave are not going to repel attacks from America’s enemies. But despite being called back to work by the White House, Washington’s bureaucracies remain largely abandoned.

Even Biden’s administrator of the General Services Administration, who is supposed to manage over 8,300 government buildings, spent most of the year following the agency’s “full re-entry” to the office not in Washington, but in Missouri.

This is how the Biden bureaucrats do business: when, where, how, and if they want to.

Secretary of Transportation Peter Buttigieg noted, “When you take a job like mine, you understand and accept that you’re going to have to be available 24/7, depending on what’s going on, and you’re going to have to engage.” But then he went offline for four weeks of paid paternity leave in the midst of a nationwide supply chain crisis, even declining to take a call from Senator Chuck Grassley about a transportation issue in Iowa.

President Biden himself is setting this example for how Washington “works from home.”
The president was out of the Oval Office last year more than any other modern American president, spending nearly 40 percent of his time away from the nation’s capital. Biden’s getaways include frequent trips to the beach, the estates of billionaires, and other posh destinations. Even when not vacationing, the president limits his participation in public events to weekdays, between the hours of 10 AM and 4 PM.
While Biden and his bureaucrats are living like every week is beach week, the hardworking Americans paying their salaries don’t have the same luxury of setting their own office hours. That’s why I am giving my January 2024 Squeal Award to the absentee administration officials. Apparently only they know who they are, since no one is taking attendance.

Folks, Biden and his bureaucrats can reschedule their beach getaways until January 2025 when they all will be out of office, permanently. In the meantime, I’m calling on the White House Office of Management and Budget to start auditing and posting the schedules of the heads of every agency and department so taxpayers know who is showing up to work and who isn’t.

Traveling River to River — Friday, January 19

Each year, I am excited to travel from the Mississippi River to the Missouri River to meet with Iowans.

On Monday, I stopped in Shelby County at Monogram Prepared Meats. I enjoyed my tour of this bacon processing plant in Harlan. Then, I traveled back home to Red Oak and joined Montgomery County officials to see the Red Oak Child Development Center’s new 140-student facility.

My visits with Iowans across our beautiful state in 2024 are just getting started.

Stay tuned to find out when I’ll be in your area!

Ernst: All in for Life

This week, we witnessed Americans from tiny towns and big cities come together on the National Mall in celebration of the gift we all share – life. During this year’s March for Life, thousands gathered to focus on our desire to extend love and care for both the mother and child during pregnancy and in the years after.

This mission reminds me of the heroic work of pregnancy care centers and maternity homes that stand at the forefront of this fight. These centers serve as the bedrock of families across the nation, providing parents with compassionate support and resources like housing, transportation, education, and health care.

That’s because being pro-life means recognizing the joint responsibility of a mother, father, and society at large to protect and nurture each and every child from the moment that it is created throughout his or her life. To truly change our culture, communities must go all in on life and wrap around families who are struggling.

As I travel throughout the state of Iowa, I am inspired by the life-affirming message of hope at resource centers and adoption facilities. Each and every day, these folks provide a roadmap to how we can truly achieve a society that respects the inherent dignity of each and every one of us and makes sure no mother faces the challenge of parenthood alone.

To support their work, I am leading the fight to safeguard taxpayer dollars for women’s health care by redirecting them from Planned Parenthood, the nation’s single largest provider of abortion, and instead using them to support other eligible entities, like community health centers, which provide important health care services but do not offer abortions.

In addition to supporting healthy families, my bill ensures Iowa taxpayers are not forced to fork out billions of dollars for an organization that violates the consciences of many Americans. To prevent this, the historically bipartisan Hyde Amendment has protected hard-earned taxpayer dollars from funding abortions. I’m dedicated to continuing this tradition to ensure Iowans do not have to foot the bill – literally – for abortions.

As a mom and soon-to-be grandma, I know it takes a village at every age and every stage to support a family. To help parents with little ones, I’m also working to increase the availability of affordable, high-quality childcare by allowing small, non-profit childcare providers, including religiously affiliated non-profits, to participate in Small Business Administration loan programs.

This week, I’m encouraged that many dedicated Americans came together during the March for Life, united by one message: life matters. We are stronger when we can tackle the challenge of pregnancy and parenthood by leaning on friends and family to get us through. It’s a precious thing when a child is brought into this world, something so valuable that a community must unite around mother and child, committed to protecting that life.

Joni Ernst, a native of Red Oak and a combat veteran, represents Iowa in the United States Senate.

Posted in In The News