Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is taking flak from one segment of state Republicans over her tepid support for defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, while her supporters say it's much ado about nothing, according to an NBC News report.
Ernst, a member of the Armed Services Committee, has become a target of many in her own party and in her own state for hedging on the selection of Hegseth. And the cost could be her reelection chances in 2026, according to the report.
"This is my issue: She's not fully supportive of President Trump and his agenda and the selection of his team," GOP power broker Bob Vander Plaats told NBC News. "When you elect a president, you basically kind of assume he gets to assemble his team to execute his agenda."
Former Polk County GOP Chair Will Rogers had a different take, saying, "A lot of this is driven by gaslighting and attention-seeking — what can we say today to get more clicks? Let's attack a U.S. senator for not doing what we demand her to do right now at this exact second."
Hegseth's nomination has come under fire amid allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct. Hegseth has also said that women "straight up" should not serve in combat roles. Ernst served in combat as an Army National Guard lieutenant colonel.
"So I do believe that there is a very good role for women in combat-type jobs. … We're going to have to have a hard discussion about that because as we have seen our numbers and recruitment drop, if there are women that are fully capable — and let me stress that, because I do believe that there needs to be very high standards to achieve to be in those combat roles," Ernst told Newsmax last month.
After meeting with Hegseth earlier this week, Ernst signaled that she was coming around.
"As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources," she said.
Back in Iowa, the hullabaloo comes down to whether Ernst will have to face a primary challenger in the 2026 midterms.
"Are there some people who have been disappointed because she doesn't have a perfect MAGA scorecard? Yes," David Oman, a GOP strategist who was Ernst's finance chair in 2014, told NBC News. "Does it rise to the level of a primary challenge that would cost tens of millions of dollars, Republicans fighting Republicans? I doubt it."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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