Overview

• At a late May town hall in Iowa, Sen. Joni Ernst dismissed constituent warnings that Medicaid cuts could cause deaths by stating “well, we all are going to die.”
• Over the weekend she posted a cemetery-shot video in which she mock-apologized, referenced the tooth fairy and urged seekers of eternal life to embrace her Lord and savior.
• Democrats and some Republican strategists said her comments exposed GOP indifference to vulnerable residents, though Iowa GOP leaders argued she was taken out of context.
• Iowa state Rep. J.D. Scholten officially entered the 2026 Senate race citing Ernst’s remarks, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball shifted her seat from safe to likely Republican.
• The One Big Beautiful Bill Act proposes $1 trillion in cuts to federal health and food programs, with the Congressional Budget Office projecting 8.7 million losing Medicaid and 7.6 million becoming uninsured.