Free Republic

The Senate and House are on a collision course over whether to repeal comprehensive sanctions on Syria, a rare area where there are bipartisan coalitions on both sides of the debate. Discussion centers on whether to completely repeal the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, a severe sanctions mechanism that blocked nearly all U.S. and international cooperation or engagement with the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. Legislation to repeal Caesar is included in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2026. But an amendment to the House version of the NDAA to repeal Caesar...

Tough-talking fiscal conservative Senator Joni Ernst is set to stun Washington by announcing she won't seek reelection. The 55-year-old Iowa Republican does not plan on seeking reelection in the 2026 midterms, according to sources close to her who spoke with CBS News. Ernst, the first female combat veteran in Congress, has served in the Senate since 2015 and her second term will expire on January 3, 2027. The sources disclosed that the senator's announcement is scheduled for Thursday. Ernst's Senate office did not immediately return the Daily Mail's request for comment. A two-term senator from southwestern Iowa, Ernst went to...

The state of Iowa will have a chance to upgrade its congressional delegation next year, though the White House understandably wanted to play it safe. CBS reported, Senator Joni Ernst (RINO-IA) will not be seeking reelection to the Senate next year. An official announcement is scheduled for Thursday. Ernst has served in the Senate since 2015. A source told CBS that Ernst had told people close to her that she intends to serve only two terms and will enter the private sector. This news will come as a disappointment to the White House, as President Trump had urged Ernst to...

During the final months of the Biden administration, the National Institutes of Health awarded $28 million to a mysterious venture-backed company called Vaccine Company Inc., a biomedical firm founded in 2022 whose chief financial officer happens to be one of former president Joe Biden’s top COVID advisers. To Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa), the September 2024 grant from the NIH’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health doesn’t pass the smell test. Vaccine Company has left virtually no public footprint showing what it has done with the taxpayer funds, which the Biden administration doled out to a seemingly random post office...

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) expressed deep concerns about facing accountability for her opposition to Trump’s cabinet nominees, during her participation in the controversial No Labels National Meeting. Her remarks, dripping with alarm and self-pity, laid bare her growing fear of primary challenges from conservative voters fed up with RINO lawmakers undermining the MAGA agenda. Senators who attended the event are: Bill Cassidy (R-LA) Susan Collins (R-ME) John Curtis (R-UT) Tim Kaine (D-VA) Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Thom Tillis (R-NC) Todd Young (R-IN) [snip] “My friend Joni Ernst, who is probably one of the more conservative, principled Republican leaders...

Is Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., having his Joni Ernst moment? It sure seems like it. On Wednesday, the Hoosier State’s senior senator told CNN mouthpiece Manu Raju he’s still undecided as to whether he will support Pete Hegseth’s nomination to become the next secretary of defense. The comments came after the two veterans met to discuss Hegseth’s potential promotion earlier that day. “I haven’t decided yet, as I’ve shared with him and happy to share with others…We had a good meeting. It was an extensive conversation, and he answered the questions I asked,” Young reportedly said. “We had a very...

It looks like Joni Ernst is busy digging her own political grave. Her behind-the-scenes war against Pete Hegseth has sparked a firestorm from MAGA, who were fed up with the RINO senator from Iowa long before she started attacking Trump’s nominees.Many are shocked at Joni’s idiotic decision to go after Hegseth, and to nobody’s surprise, it’s backfiring spectacularly.Let’s not forget—this is the same woman who eagerly pushed through Biden’s national security pick, the warmongering, midwit disaster, Lloyd Austin. You know, the guy who didn’t even bother to inform the White House that he was battling cancer and missing work during...

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst's husband Gail claimed in divorce papers she cheated on him with a soldier while she served in the National Guard in the early 2000s.. Gail, 65, blasted Joni in attempt to receive alimony payments, lawyer fees and remove her from their home in Red Oak, Iowa, citing 'bizarre behavior'.. He claims the Republican politician, 48, 'walked around the house nude, laid out nude on the back patio, and attempted to crawl into bed naked with him at night'.. The former military man claims he was like a single parent raising their daughter Libby because Joni's career...

Eventually, everything in politics goes full circle. If you wait long enough, it all turns Ecclesiastes 3. Take Joni Ernst, the junior senator from Iowa, for example. She burst onto the national scene, pledging to “cut pork” in a very memorable way: When your opening line is, “I’m Joni Ernst, I grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm,” not only do you have our attention — you’ve got us squirming in our seats. (Ouch.) Before the castration spot aired, Ernst was struggling to raise money, trailing Republican frontrunner Mark Jacobs by several points for the GOP nomination. Conservative women...

“Just 3 percent of the federal workforce teleworked daily prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, 6 percent of workers report in-person on a full-time basis, while nearly one-third are entirely remote,” the report said. A Republican senator is proposing a bill that she says would give the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency a head start on making government more efficient. Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa has proposed the REMOTE Act, which will monitor bureaucrats' computer use and require agencies to report on the downside of telework, according to the U.K.'s Daily Mail. The bill would require that agencies...

Thursday on FNC’s “America’s Newsroom,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) declined to support former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary. The Iowa Republican said that the vetting process needed to continue. “I did have a very long, lengthy discussion with Pete yesterday,” she said. “I appreciate his service to the nation. I, too, am also a combat veteran. So we talked about a number of those issues and will continue with the vetting process. I think that is incredibly important. So again, all I’m saying is we had a very frank and productive discussion. And...

All eyes in Washington, D.C. have turned to Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), the most emboldened holdout among Republican senators still hesitant to embrace Pete Hegseth after a series of stories about his alleged past behavior. Now, conservative allies of President-elect Donald Trump are ratcheting up the pressure on Ernst to fall in line or face the end of her political career. The Iowa senator, who is up for reelection in 2026, held her cards closely while telling Fox News about her recent meeting with Trump’s defense secretary nominee. “I did have a long, very lengthy discussion with Pete yesterday,...

Only 6% of federal employees work from an office full-time, and a third are fully remote. And some aren’t actually working when they “work from home,” a Senate investigation found.“Washington is still operating as if it’s March 2020,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), the chair of the Senate DOGE Caucus and the report’s author, wrote.“Just three percent of the federal workforce teleworked daily prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, six percent of workers report in-person on a full-time basis, while nearly one-third are entirely remote,” the report states. Government office buildings have an occupancy rate of only 12%, yet the government...

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has been leading an “aggressive” personal jihad against Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, multiple sources within Trump world with direct knowledge of her outreach to Trump told The Federalist on Wednesday.Ernst’s efforts included personal calls to Trump to urge him to dump Hegseth ahead of her meeting with the Army veteran on Wednesday afternoon. Ernst did not tell Hegseth during her meeting with him about her efforts to derail his nomination, sources told The Federalist.“She’s waging a campaign to replace Pete with herself,” a Trump source familiar with her phone calls with Trump...

“Zero” Senate Republicans are opposing Pete Hegseth’s confirmation, sources told The Post on Wednesday, as the defense secretary-designee was making the rounds on Capitol Hill and defiantly proclaiming he will “never back down” in the face of widespread allegations of past misconduct. “There are zero ‘nos’ right now,” one GOP source familiar with the matter said, ripping smears against the former Army combat infantryman in the press as “BS.” At least six Republicans have privately expressed reservations about President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee, NBC News reported Tuesday, as claims of binge drinking, sexual impropriety and financial mismanagement during his tenure as...

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has for years been talking about her plan to "make 'em squeal" when it comes to cutting waste in the federal government. Earlier this week, in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday and Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy having been tasked with leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Ernst's office put out a press release, "Ernst Lays Out Thanksgiving Menu to Carve up $2 Trillion in Waste."Joni Ernst @SenJoniErnst Reporting for @DOGE duty!🫡 For the last decade, I have been sounding the alarm on waste, fraud, and abuse and am thrilled to build off this work...

Senator Joni Ernst put together a fairly spectacular thread detailing how she could eliminate more than TWO TRILLION of Washington waste in just 22 easy steps ... it's a start, right? @SenJoniErnst We can eliminate more than $2 trillion of waste in Washington in 22 easy steps. Here is how @elonmusk, @VivekGRamaswamy, and @DOGE can begin to trim the fat and #makeemsqueal. @SenJoniErnst 1. Ghost Workers 👻 We are spending $15.7 billion a year on underutilized buildings. Many are vacant! Bureaucrats refuse to show up to work, so why are we paying for empty buildings? [snip] @SenJoniErnst 4. Cancel the...

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill reacted to the news that President-elect Trump intends to nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fl., to be attorney general with a mix of support, disbelief and silence Wednesday. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she was "shocked" to hear Gaetz was tapped to lead the Department of Justice. "Obviously the president has the right to nominate whomever he wishes," Collins said. "But this is why the Senate's advise and consent process is so important." "I'm sure that there will be many, many questions raised at Mr. Gaetz's hearing, if in fact the nomination goes forward," she added. If...

EXCLUSIVE: A bipartisan pair of senators is introducing a new bill on the fourth anniversary of the Abraham Accords to deepen cooperation between U.S. and Middle East partners. "In the face of emboldened Iranian aggression, I’m deepening the historic partnerships created through the Abraham Accords four years ago today," said Ernst. "More cooperation among our Middle East partners is what Tehran fears. The LINK Act accomplishes this by coordinating military planning and creating a permanent and effective defense alliance. By working hand-in-hand with our partners, the strength and security of our nations grows." The Biden administration recently lifted a hold...

Sen.Joni Ernst had a hilarious hot mic moment