Overview

• At a May 30 town hall in Iowa, Sen. Joni Ernst dismissed warnings that Medicaid cuts could cause deaths by declaring, “Well, we all are going to die.”
• She doubled down on May 31 with a sarcastic Instagram apology video filmed in a cemetery, where she reiterated the mortality quip and quipped about the “tooth fairy.”
• Democrats including Sen. Chris Murphy and commentators such as Joe Scarborough condemned the tone of her remarks as insensitive to those facing healthcare losses.
• The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the GOP bill could cut Medicaid spending by $723 billion over a decade and increase the uninsured by 7.6 million.
• Iowa State Rep. J.D. Scholten announced his candidacy for Ernst’s seat, and Democratic strategists now view the 2026 contest as increasingly competitive.