All posts tagged "Joni Ernst"

An employee for a right-wing think tank and MAGA lobbyist was caught trying to sneak drugs and pistol ammo into Senate offices, per NOTUS.

Heritage Foundation employee Matthew Christopher Wingate faces a drug-possession charge after security at the Russell Senate Office Building found a substance that tested presumptive positive as cocaine and fentanyl in his briefcase, according to an arrest affidavit.

According to reporting by NOTUS, Wingate previously worked as a military legislative assistant for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and a national security adviser for Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA). With the Heritage Foundation, he was the government-relations director for defense and foreign policy....

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) won't be seeking re-election next year, according to sources, and social media reacted to the news.

The 55-year-old Iraq War veteran has served in the U.S. Senate since 2015, but she has telling confidantes that she had accomplished what she had set out to do in Congress after two terms, and several Democratic officials from her state have already lined up as challengers, reported CBS News.

"Every day we get a new Democratic member of the House or Senate that decides to run for this Senate seat — bring it on," Ernst said earlier this month at a meeting of the Westside Conservative Club. "Bring it on, folks. Because I tell you, at the end of the day, Iowa is going to be red."...

A new report by Mother Jones revealed a rise in violent threats against members of Congress around the same time some lawmakers wavered on whether to confirm controversial Trump cabinet nominees like Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

"The US Capitol Police released the information in response to a public records request by Mother Jones," although they did not specify whether targeted lawmakers were in the House or Senate, or which political party they belonged to, wrote reporter Pema Levy.

"As it turns out, threats of violence against members of Congress rose in January and February, at the same time that Trump and his allies were strong-arming lawmakers over confirmations," Levy wrote. "In January, the US Capitol Police counted 42 threats against members of the House and Senate, followed by 33 in February. During the same months in 2024, the numbers were 16 and 17, respectively."...

Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson called on all senators to take the sexual assault allegations against Pete Hegseth seriously as they prepared to question him during confirmation hearings Tuesday.

Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary — also a former Fox News personality — is set to face a barrage of questions about his past behaviors that Carlson said shouldn't solely be the concern of female senators like Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), the subject of a Wall Street Journal article Sunday.

Carlson appeared on MSNBC's "The Weekend" with former Fox News host Julie Roginsky who also expressed dismay that Hegseth's hearing is on the fast track when there still appears to be serious questions about his character.
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WASHINGTON — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is making the Republican Party look ridiculous.

That’s according to Republican senators.

In exclusive interviews with 22 Republican U.S. senators, Raw Story found a trend — ranging from annoyance to anger to alarm — over the Georgia Republican congresswoman’s plan to formally deploy her motion to vacate House Speaker Mike Johson this week. ...

Congress quietly drained hundreds of millions of dollars from a largely unused presidential campaign fund to provide a jolt of cash to the United States Secret Service and election security grants, Raw Story has confirmed.

The massive raid of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund was included late last week in Congress’ latest government funding package, which President Joe Biden signed into law.

Raw Story could not confirm which member, or members, of Congress are responsible for inserting language in the middle of the 1,012-page bill that tapped the fund to the tune of $375 million....