Another Iowa county has sent a letter of concern to Sen. Joni Ernst following her handling of Pete Hegseth’s nomination for Defense Secretary. Buchanan County and Monona County GOP central committees already contacted Ernst with concerns, and now Madison County has done the same.
“As we write this, we are still awaiting your explicit support for Mr. Trump’s Defense Department nominee,” the letter states. “Having ‘encouraging’ discussions with Defense Department Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth and committing to ‘supporting’ Mr. Hegseth ‘through this process’ amounts at best to wordplay. This ambiguity, coupled with the absence of concrete articulation of concerns over the nomination on your part has fueled media hype and created distraction from the Trump transition.”
With nearly 80 percent voter turnout in Madison County, and 68 percent of the votes cast for President Trump, the committee expects more of Ernst in terms of her support for the incoming administration’s agenda.
“Your vague statements on Mr. Trump’s cabinet choice convey a troubling message of non-support and suggest misalignment with the will of the people,” the letter states. “If you have concerns about any nominee, they should be clearly conveyed. We recall you saying amid the certifying of the 2020 election, ‘Let’s move on. Let’s get President Biden into place. Let’s get the new administration going and let’s start healing our nation.’ Is there any reason to not get the new Trump administration going? If so, what would that be? You supported a majority of the Biden picks, and the country has had to live with the negative consequences of that. Where was your rigorous scrutiny then?”
The letter closed by asking Ernst to “embrace” the Trump administration’s agenda and “avoid impeding the transition back to a better America.”
Ernst was also censured or condemned by at least 17 Iowa GOP county central committees a couple of years ago due to her vote for redefining marriage at the federal level and anti-Second Amendment policies.
