Sen. Ernst response to grilling on Medicaid : NPR

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, speaks to reporters as she walks to a Senate luncheons at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 19, 2024.

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Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst faced intense questioning from her constituents during a Friday town hall, eliciting shouts and boos from community members over her support for President Trump’s contentious One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The first speaker offered Ernst a softball question, telling the National Guard veteran that his sole request was for her to be the guest speaker at the American Legion for Memorial Day next year.

But just minutes into the hour-long session in Butler County, Iowa, the tenor quickly shifted. The crowd grew tense and Ernst appeared flip and defensive.

Ernst was repeatedly peppered with questions about the thousand-page bill, with many attendees focusing on proposed cuts to safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP. Ernst defended the bill, arguing that those eliminated from these programs would be people who were not eligible to benefit from them in the first place.

“When you’re arguing about illegals that are receiving Medicaid benefits, 1.4 million (people) … they are not eligible so they will be coming off,” Ernst said.

Someone in the crowd shouted in response: “People are going to die.”

“Well, we all are going to die,” Ernst responded. “For heaven’s sakes, folks,” she continued with a smile.

The crowd, which had already grown hostile to Ernst’s tone, erupted in roars of disapproval.

The GOP budget package is a sweeping piece of legislation that would provide massive tax cuts to the wealthy and slash funding for social programs including Medicaid and food assistance.

A version of the bill narrowly passed in the House earlier this month — eking by with a final vote of 215-214.

But the act faces pushback in the Senate over concerns regarding some of the more consequential aspects of the legislation, which include: extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts — with about $3.8 trillion in cuts overall, largely for the nation’s top earners; raising the national debt ceiling by $4 trillion; and costly fees on asylum seekers and those who sponsor unaccompanied minors.

As written, the bill is projected to add trillions to the nation’s debt over the next decade.

The bill is now going through the process of reconciliation — a complicated Senate process that would allow Republicans to avoid a filibuster by Democratic legislators and pass the bill on a simple majority.

Back at the Iowa town hall, Ernst continued to spar with voters over her support for these changes.

In another heated exchange, a man — who identified himself as a Navy veteran and retired school superintendent — grilled Ernst about Trump’s authoritarian style of governing.

“Are you afraid of Trump? Are you corrupt like Trump? Or are you just at the point that you don’t care anymore and that’s why you don’t do anything?,” the man asked to cheers.

Her response set off another round of dissenting yells.

“Obviously I don’t agree because I don’t think our country is being destroyed,” she said as the crowd offered shouts in protest.

After the event, Ernst posted a message to social media, appearing unbothered by the turn of events at the town hall.

“Thanks folks for coming out to my town hall in Parkersburg today,” she wrote. “I always enjoy hearing from constituents and sharing my work to cut government red tape for you.”