U.S. Senator Joni Ernst endorsed her colleague, Sen. Chuck Grassley, after he announced his re-election campaign.
There’s no one I’d rather serve the people of #Iowa with.
#GrassleyRuns, @GrassleyWorks, & #GrassleyDelivers—and Iowans know it. I’m with Chuck! Join me ⬇️ https://t.co/ylPnZW5byY https://t.co/pE8GPjUtco— Joni Ernst (@joniernst) September 24, 2021
It is a somewhat interesting endorsement only because it conflicts with what Ernst said in 2014 when she was running for U.S. Senate.
At that time, Ernst agreed with competitors Sam Clovis and Matt Whitaker who all said they’d term limit themselves to 12 years and would support a term limits amendment.
Grassley, for what it is worth, is seeking an eighth term to the U.S. Senate. That would equate to 48 years in the U.S. Senate — about 36 more than the 12 years Ernst campaigned on originally.
It will be interesting in 2026 to see if Ernst makes good on her pledge to term limit herself to 12 years in Congress — considering she has abandoned that position for others.
Ernst was even specifically asked about undermining seniority and Sen. Grassley.
“I think perhaps in some cases that is a problem of seniority where we have people who have served maybe too long and become part of that old boys’ club. So, two terms.”
Matt Whitaker, who has also has endorsed Grassley, pledged to limit himself to 12 years when he ran for Senate and said he’d support amending the Constitution to include term limits.
Whitaker said he thinks the “career political class” is abusing their terms.
Joni has her eye on becoming chair of Senate Armed Forces committee someday and perhaps even Majority Leader or higher. Support for term limits is just a little white lie useful for getting support from Convention of States advocates. No different than Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, now on their 3rd term.
This article explains why term limits isn’t the solution we need for Congress https://usadevolution.com/2021/06/term-limits-is-not-the-solution/