Free Republic

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

resident Biden is facing criticism after a bombshell report revealed that all federal agencies are less than 50 percent occupied - wasting billions in taxpayer dollars - over a year after he declared the COVID-19 pandemic over. According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) memo to Sen. Joni Ernst, obtained by DailyMail.com, not a single federal agency has over half of its workforce in the office. That's a staggering statistic since federal agencies spend about $2 billion taxpayer dollars per year to operate and maintain federal office buildings - and over $5 billion annually in leases. The shocking findings comes...

The Biden administration shows no signs of stopping research on “pathogens of pandemic potential” abroad through a controversial US nonprofit, Sen. Joni Ernst said Monday, as the Pentagon will complete a $2.8 million grant this year for experiments on “high-risk pathogens” in Guinea. The Department of Defense began funding Georgetown University in September 2021 for a three-year project out of its Defense Threat Reduction Agency focused on “reducing the risk of pathogens causing fever” in Guinea, a grant database shows. EcoHealth Alliance has received subgrants as part of the project — despite concerns from lawmakers and scientific experts that the...

America last! The U.S. Senate has cast a contentious vote, advancing a massive $95 billion foreign aid package that supports Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, and Taiwan, but notably omits any provisions for bolstering U.S. border infrastructure. In a 67-32 cloture vote, the Senate crossed party lines, with several RINO senators joining Democrats to move the foreign aid bill forward. Republicans who joined Democrats in voting in favor include: Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Bill Cassidy (R-LA) Roger Wicker (R-MS) Todd Young (R-IN) Susan Collins (R-ME) Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) John Kennedy (R-LA) John Thune (R-SD) Dan Sullivan (R-AK) Mitt Romney...