EARNED OR GIVEN: Has Congressperson Feenstra earned legislator endorsements, or are they purely political games

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Congressperson Randy Feenstra announced his re-election campaign recently. And with it, Congressperson Feenstra released a modest list of endorsements from Iowa legislators. The Iowa statewide officeholders and federal delegation endorsed Congressperson Feenstra, but that is to be expected.

Legislators in the Iowa House and Iowa Senate are much, much closer to “the people.” So the question is, what has Congressperson Feenstra done to earn their endorsement? Or was it given?

Let’s look at Congressperson Feenstra’s record in Washington, which should be what matters.

First, let’s point out the obvious. Congressperson Feenstra represents Iowa’s most conservative congressional districts. It is one of the most conservative districts in the country. Despite representing the deep-red Fourth District, Congressperson Feenstra has a Liberty Score of 79 percent from Conservative Review. Congressperson Feenstra receives just 75 percent from the House Liberty Caucus. Congressperson Feenstra has received 72 percent this session from Heritage Action for America.

Needless to say, Iowa’s Fourth District should have a conservative voice in the U.S. House of Representatives. People can decide for themselves whether those scores indicate if it has a conservative voice in the U.S. House of Representatives right now.

Let’s talk about specific votes.

Congressperson Feenstra just supported the FY24 NDAA. The NDAA did not reform the extension of FISA, which will allow the continued use by Biden’s FBI to spy on Americans without a search warrant.

But with, there’s more!

Also in the NDAA were woke DEI policies in the military. It will also make citizens pay for abortions. As Rep. Duncan said, the military should be trained to kill the enemy, not trained in gender studies.

Heritage Action said Americans should not be forced to fund a Pentagon that facilitates abortion, enables sex reassignment surgeries and promotes Critical Race Theory and DEI initiatives. But the NDAA does. And Congressperson Feenstra supported it. Read more about it here.

In November, Congressperson Feenstra voted against an effort to ensure the FBI couldn’t use funds for its new $300 million headquarters.

On May 31, 2023, Congressperson Feenstra voted for the debt ceiling agreement. Despite voting to increase the debt ceiling, Congressperson Feenstra put out a statement blaming President Joe Biden for the increased national debt, failing to acknowledge his own votes in support of raising the country’s debt.

On March 24, 2023, Congressperson Feenstra voted against an amendment offered by conservative Congressman Thomas Massie that would have terminated the authority of the Department of Education and the Secretary of Education to operate or administer any office or program related to elementary or secondary education. Watch Massie’s comments on the amendment here.

We can continue…

On July 14, 2022, Congressperson Feenstra voted for an $817 billion defense spending bill without defunding the military vaccine mandates.

On May 10, 2022, Congressperson Feenstra voted to fund the war in Ukraine through the end of Biden’s first term with a $40 billion aid package.

On March 9, 2022, Congressperson Feenstra voted to pass a $1.5 trillion omnibus that funded Biden’s vaccine mandates.

On Sept, 23, 2021, Congressperson Feenstra voted to require girls to register for the draft.

In addition to his voting record, WHO-Radio’s Simon Conway reported that Congressperson Feenstra refused to support the debt ceiling increase until Speaker Kevin McCarthy restored a tax credit program to support the carbon capture pipelines.

That fact makes it increasingly difficult to understand how those legislators who are fighting for private property rights in Iowa can also at the same time be endorsing Congressperson Feenstra.

Congressperson Feenstra’s PAC made its largest contribution to Rep. Jamie Hererra Beutler of Washington State. Herrera Beutler was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald J. Trump. She blamed Trump for inciting a “riot.” She also voted in favor of the sham Jan. 6 Committee. She held a 57 percent lifetime score from Freedom Works and a 50 percent Liberty Score from Conservative Review.

Despite Congressperson Feenstra’s support, Herrera Beutler lost her primary in 2022.

When he first arrived in D.C., one of the first votes he took was a vote for House leadership. While Congresswomen Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks had the courage to admit they voted for Liz Cheney to retain her leadership position, Congressperson Feenstra refused to answer that question.

Another one of Congressperson Feenstra’s first acts in Congress was voting to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. It isn’t so much that Congressperson Feenstra voted to certify the election, but how he handled the situation.

Leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, Congressperson Feenstra signed a Dec. 15 letter to Pelosi urging her to investigate the 2020 Presidential Election. Congressperson Feenstra’s office said he would continue to listen to constituents and review the facts before deciding if he would vote to certify the election.

That was Jan. 5, 2021.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Congressperson Feenstra voted to certify the election and said he had no choice. Congressperson Feenstra said the Constitution does not say representatives can object to the results.

The question is which amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed the night of Jan. 5, 2021 or morning of Jan. 6, 2021 that made the change? Remember, on Jan. 5, 2021 Congressperson Feenstra said he would listen to constituents and review the facts before deciding if he would vote to certify the election. One day later, he said Congress doesn’t vote on certification and never took a vote to certify.

So, when did the Constitution change?

Oh, and you may be wondering why this article routinely refers to Congressperson Feenstra as Congressperson.

When he arrived in D.C., Nancy Pelosi was returning to House leadership. One of her first actions was to change House rules to remove gender-specific terms. At that same time, Congressperson Feenstra declared himself a “Congressperson” rather than a Congressman:

I'm truly humbled that Iowans in the 4th District have elected me to represent them in Congress.

For me, it's all about helping others. I'm here to be an effective congressperson for Iowans & to make sure that we're delivering results for #IA04. https://t.co/rfbTnXPBj1

— Randy Feenstra (@RandyFeenstra) January 3, 2021

We could continue, but we wonder if it matters to the legislators who endorsed Congressperson Feenstra anyway. This isn’t Iowa’s First, Second or Third Congressional District. We’re talking about the conservative, deep-red, Fourth District.

Did Congressperson Feenstra deserve these endorsements, or were they simply given because, you know, politics.

Here is the list of legislators who have endorsed Congressperson Feenstra:

Speaker Pat Grassley
Majority Leader Matt Windschitl
Rep. Jacob Bossman
Rep. Bob Henderson
Rep. Shannon Latham
Rep. Ann Meyer
Rep. Brent Siegrist
Rep. Phil Thompson
Rep. John Wills
Rep. Megan Jones
Rep. Mike Sexton
Rep. Dave Sieck
Rep. Brian Best
Rep. Dave Deyoe
Rep. Steve Holt
Rep. Tom Jeneary
Rep. Henry Stone
Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver
Senate President Amy Sinclair
Sen. Dan Dawson
Sen. Jeff Edler
Sen. Jesse Green
Sen. Dave Rowley
Sen. Jeff Taylor
Sen. Mark Costello
Sen. Rocky DeWitt

Author: The Iowa Standard