Overview

• During a May 30 town hall in Parkersburg, Iowa, Ernst dismissed constituent warnings about deadly effects of Medicaid cuts by quipping “we all are going to die.”
• Instead of clarifying, the senator posted a mocking apology video filmed in a cemetery, maintaining that her point about mortality was obvious.
• Republicans are seeking to enact the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which aims to cut $1 trillion from social programs and is projected by the CBO to strip Medicaid from 8.7 million people and leave 7.6 million more uninsured over a decade.
• Iowa State Rep. J.D. Scholten launched his 2026 Senate campaign in response to Ernst’s comments, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball moved her contest from safe to likely Republican.
• Ernst has publicly defended her remarks as compassionate, urging critics to watch the full town hall video, even as GOP strategists warn the fallout could linger through next year’s midterms.