Sen. Joni Ernst: GOP can campaign on opposition to COVID relief

DES MOINES - The latest round of federal COVID-19 relief is popular with the public, but Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said Monday she believes Republicans will be able to sell their unanimous opposition to the package once the stimulus money has come and gone.

The $1.9 trillion package includes, among other things, $1,400 stimulus payments to many Americans, an expansion of the child care tax credit in the form of payments to many American families, unemployment assistance, aid for state and local governments, funding for schools, food and housing assistance, and funding for vaccine production and testing.

No congressional Republicans, including any from Iowa, voted in support of the package.

But the legislation is popular with Americans: Seven out of 10 in a recent Pew Research Center poll said they favor the legislation.

During a conference call with Iowa reporters, Ernst said she thinks Republicans will be able to campaign on their opposition to the relief package despite its popularity. She said the economic payments are good for those families who are in need, but said some are going to people who don't need them.

Ernst also criticized the pandemic assistance that went to Democrat-governed states and suggested Democrats eventually will propose a tax increase to pay for the package.

'Right now, Americans are really excited about the opportunity for an economic impact payment,” Ernst said. 'The euphoria of the bill will pass, people will get their economic impact payment, they'll spend it, and then we have the burden of paying for it.

'And when all of that other stuff comes to light, that's when it becomes extremely unpopular.”

Ernst in November was elected to a second, six-year term in the Senate.

Her Republican colleague in the Senate, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, is up for re-election in 2022. Grassley has not yet announced whether he plans to run again or retire.

Three of Iowa's four U.S. House members are Republicans; all three are in their first, two-year term.

'I do think this will be an argument that Republicans are able to campaign on,” Ernst said.

There is some partisan divide in the Pew poll on the pandemic relief: More Democrats than Republicans said they support it. But 41 percent of Republicans said they favor the package, including a majority (63 percent) of lower-income Republicans.

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