Senator Ernst’s Judicial Votes Deserve Iowa’s Attention

Senator Joni Ernst is a combat veteran, a tough voice on national security, and a reliable advocate for agriculture and rural America. But on one of the most consequential issues facing our country—the federal judiciary—her recent record deserves closer scrutiny.

Senator Ernst sits on the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee. That committee isn’t just another Washington assignment—it’s ground zero for shaping the courts that will interpret our Constitution for decades. From religious liberty and parental rights to abortion laws and the administrative state, judges vetted in that committee hold life-tenured power to decide the most vital questions of our time.

While Senator Ernst has stood with President Trump in supporting Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, her record on lower court nominees in the 118th Congress sends mixed signals.

According to the Judicial Action Group (JAG), which conducts a constitutional analysis of judicial nominees, Senator Ernst voted to confirm 31 out of 45 judges flagged for failing to uphold basic originalist principles. That’s a 68 percent confirmation rate for judges who don’t meet the conservative constitutional test—a deeply concerning statistic for Iowans who care about the rule of law.

Many of the judges she supported:

• Refused to affirm that the Constitution should be interpreted based on its text and original meaning;
• Evaded questions about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade;
• Expressed deference to unchecked federal bureaucracies, the same kind of deference that gave us lockdowns, forced vaccinations, and attacks on religious gatherings;
• Aligned with progressive organizations that actively oppose religious liberty, parental rights, and Second Amendment protections.

These are not abstract concerns. For example, Senator Ernst voted to confirm Julie Rikelman to the First Circuit—a nominee best known as the lead attorney representing a now-closed abortion clinic in Mississippi seeking to terminate babies who can hear, see and feel pain. Rikelman lost that case in spectacular fashion when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Yet, Ernst voted for Rikelman to be a federal judge. That’s not a neutral vote; that’s a radical one.

Iowa is a proudly conservative state. That’s why Senator Ernst’s votes on judges matter—not just to political insiders in Washington, but to parents in Cedar Rapids, pastors in Des Moines, and voters in Council Bluffs.

No one is asking for political perfection. But Iowans do expect principle. Judicial confirmations are not mere formalities. Each vote is a choice: a choice between judges who will defend the Constitution and those who will distort it. When that choice is compromised, so is the foundation of our liberty.

Senator Ernst has the opportunity to become a leading voice for judicial integrity—not just when cameras are rolling, but when votes are being cast. Iowans are watching. Because in the end, Senator Ernst’s legacy won’t be written by what she’s said in a soundbite—it will be written by the judges she helped place on the bench.

Jenna Ellis is a senior adviser of public policy for the American Family Association, national radio host of “Jenna Ellis in the Morning,” and a Florida resident. She previously served as a senior legal adviser to former President Trump.

This article appeared here in The Iowa Standard.