Justin Jensen, regional director for U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) held what he called “traveling office hours” at Grinnell College on Monday, Nov. 25. The event served as an opportunity for both students and residents of Grinnell to bring their concerns and questions to Senator Ernst and have a discussion with Jensen.
Jensen said that some members of the College’s staff had come to this event in other places in Iowa and had mentioned that he should come to Grinnell. “So I thought it’d be a great opportunity to be right here where the students are, and obviously right in the middle of Grinnell,” Jensen said.
Around 20 people attended the informal, conversational meeting, split nearly evenly between students and residents of the town of Grinnell. Attendees were directed to fill out cards with their contact information and to write their comments for the senator in order for them to be passed on to her.
Although a wide range of topics were raised, ranging from the electoral college to reproductive rights, a large focus of the event was concern regarding Senator Ernst’s role in vetting Trump’s recess appointments –– specifically concern that the candidates appointed were not qualified.
“I find them completely unqualified and with backgrounds that are problematic, to frightening, to a case of weakening national security. So I am very interested to know how Senator Ernst intends to consider them,” said one attendee from the town.
Jensen said, “The one thing I know that she said in regards to the nominees, or nominations, for any department and secretary of state, is that she will meet with them and listen to them.”
Attendees also voiced concern about Ernst’s role in leading the Senate’s partnership with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with one attendee stating that the caucus seemed like “maybe not the best use of our time and resources.”
Ernst has historically been vocal about cutting wasteful government spending. “All I can say is that she would like to look and see at government inefficiencies, and there’s obviously a waste of taxpayer dollars in many different ways,” Jensen said.
Additionally, poverty in Iowa and the state’s minimum wage were discussed at length. A member of the organization Mid-Iowa Community Action –– a non-profit that provides resources like emergency food, health counseling and housing support to children and families in need –– asked a lingering question: “What is Senator Ernst’s understanding of food insecurity? And likewise, not just official poverty, but just near poverty? Why in Iowa are these such persistent problems?”
Jensen said that he agrees that the number of families in or near poverty is disturbing, and that he does not think it can be attributed to just one factor—he named COVID-19 and the need for the Farm Bill as two such causes of financial struggle in the state.
Jensen said that he believed the event went well. “This is the most I’ve had out of any of my stops, so it was really nice, a wide variety of questions, and it was nice to have a back and forth and hear what people are thinking, especially with the new administration coming in.”
