U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), once seen as a possible Republican Secretary of Defense, or vice-presidential or presidential candidate in a more traditionally conservative environment, is expected to announce that she will not seek re-election next year. The news has sent shockwaves through the political system, with some Democrats — especially her challengers — rejoicing, and some critics and political operatives suggesting the move shows the GOP brand is weakening, especially given the number of other prominent Republicans who have already announced their retirement.

“Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa has told confidantes she plans to reveal next week that she won’t seek reelection in 2026, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News,” the media outlet’s Jennifer Jacobs first reported. “Ernst’s announcement is scheduled for Thursday, the sources said. Ernst, 55, has served in the U.S. Senate since 2015.”

Some on the left already saw a weakening Republican brand, and now see Senator Ernst’s exit as further evidence of that volatility.

Ernst joins a slew of prominent Republican Senators bowing out of their re-election races, including Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who just won re-election in November, is mounting a run for governor.

READ MORE: Johnson Pins Gun Violence on ‘Mental Health’ After Trump Slashes $1B in School Counseling

Former Biden White House official Neera Tanden, the president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, remarked, “GOP senators are cratering in their support. Glass jaws all the way down.”

Author and political commentator Sophia A. Nelson, a Republican turned independent, on Friday predicted embattled U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Susan Collins of Maine will be the next to announce their retirements.

“Democrats need to get it together,” Nelson added. “They have a real shot at the US Senate and retaking it in 2026. As well as the House of Representatives.”

In a somewhat tongue-in-cheek note, podcaster Chuck Todd responded to the news, writing: “On Earth 2, where the establishment of the GOP in 2016 successfully stopped Trump’s hostile takeover of the party, Ernst is either serving as VP, on a GOP ticket in 2020 or 2024 or had run for top spot herself.”

Back in May, Ernst was highly criticized for remarks she made at a town hall, telling voters (video below) upset over President Donald Trump’s trillion-dollar gutting of Medicaid and Medicare, “Well, we are all going to die.”

Some pointed to that gaffe as the impetus for her expected retirement.

READ MORE: ‘Brutal’: Trump Approval Tanks as Support Plummets Across Key Issues, Poll Shows

Responding to the news of Ernst’s exit, journalist Aaron Rupar snarked, “You’re saying that telling your constituents they don’t need healthcare because they’re gonna die anyway isn’t winning politics?”

Iowa Democratic state Senator Zach Wahls, who is running for Ernst’s seat, responded to the news: “Joni Ernst saw the writing on the wall. Iowans are fed up with rising costs and unchecked corruption. And next year, we’re going to flip this seat.”

Newsweek on Wednesday reported that Ernst was narrowly trailing Wahls in an in internal Wahls campaign poll, and only narrowly beating other opponents.

Iowa Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek, also running for Ernst’s seat, weighed in, commenting, “Whether it’s Joni Ernst or someone else, they’ll have to answer for supporting cutting Iowans’ healthcare in favor of a tax break for billionaires. When I’m in the Senate, I’ll never forget about Iowa.”

Meanwhile, Bloomberg News, in its coverage of Ernst’s retirement, pointed to reasons for Democratic optimism.

“One thing the national GOP cannot afford to ignore: Recent generic congressional ballots are giving a consistent edge to Democrats. A CNBC poll showed a 5-point lead for Democrats in August that had only widened since spring, something CNN pollster Harry Enten called a ‘big uh-oh’ for Republicans. In the last three elections with a new president — 2022, 2018 and 2010 — the party out of power gained enough seats in the midterms to control the House.”

The news outlet also reported that “outside of his GOP base, Trump’s legislative agenda is proving widely unpopular on his key issues: tariffs, inflation, the economy and deportation.”

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) responds to constituents saying Medicaid cuts will kill people:

“Well, we are all going to die.” pic.twitter.com/qAOXfbtEXe

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) May 30, 2025

See the video above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Act of Revenge’: Trump Axes Kamala Harris’s Secret Service Protection

Image via Reuters

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is criticizing prominent voices on the left who denounced Republicans for urging prayer but taking no action on gun violence in the wake of the Minneapolis Catholic school mass shooting that left two young children dead and 17 wounded.

The Louisiana lawmaker pinned the blame for gun violence on “mental health” and “the human heart,” while insisting that guns are not the problem.

The House has voted to cut mental health services, including Medicaid, which is the largest payer of behavioral health services. Additionally, President Donald Trump has slashed $1 billion in school mental health programs that Congress approved in response to the 2022 Uvalde, Texas mass school shooting.

READ MORE: ‘Act of Revenge’: Trump Axes Kamala Harris’s Secret Service Protection

“It’s incredible to me that Jen Psaki and Gavin Newsom and others would attack religion, diminish the faith of millions of Americans at a time of such great tragedy,” Speaker Johnson alleged (video below). “There are a lot of commonsense solutions, things that can be done to protect children at schools and in churches that do not involve taking away the constitutional rights of law-abiding American citizens.”

Wednesday morning, Psaki, the former White House press secretary turned MSNBC anchor, lamented, “Prayer is not freaking enough. Prayers [do] not end school shootings. prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers.”

Speaker Johnson continued, insisting that now is not the time to “politicize these issues.”

“And at the end of the day,” he continued, “the problem is not guns, okay, Jen Psaki? The problem is the human heart. It’s mental health.”

READ MORE: ‘Brutal’: Trump Approval Tanks as Support Plummets Across Key Issues, Poll Shows

In late April, the Trump Department of Education announced that it would stop funding “roughly $1 billion in grants that were meant to boost the ranks and training of mental health professionals who work in schools, saying the grant awards made under the Biden administration now conflict with Trump administration priorities,” Education Week reported. “The funds were authorized by Congress in the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which passed after 19 students and two teachers lost their lives in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

The Trump Education Department alleged the $1 billion in funds might “undermine the well-being of the students these programs are intended to help.”

Critics blasted Johnson’s remarks.

“The GOP refuses to expand Medicaid for psychiatric care, cuts funding for ‘mental health,’ LGBTQ+ hotlines, denies the value of community services, yet feigns interest in ‘underlying causes’ of gun violence,” charged award-winning TV writer and playwright Hal Corley.

Watch the video below or at this link.

Speaker Mike Johnson on the Minnesota shooting: “At the end of the day the problem is not guns. Ok, Jen Psaki? The problem is the human heart. It’s mental health.” pic.twitter.com/hrLR9ev3O9

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 29, 2025

READ MORE: ‘Hard Questions’: VP Echoes False Claim About Antidepressants and Mass Shootings

Image via Reuters

President Donald Trump has directed the Department of Homeland Security to cancel former Vice President Kamala Harris’s Secret Service protection, just as she is about to launch her national book tour.

According to CNN, by law, Harris’ protection was slated to end July 21, but President Joe Biden via a directive quietly ordered her protection to last an additional year.

“You are hereby authorized to discontinue any security-related procedures previously authorized by Executive Memorandum, beyond those required by law, for the following individual, effective September 1, 2025: Former Vice President Kamala D. Harris,” the directive reads.

CNN also reports that the cancellation includes ending “constant analysis of threat intelligence and covering in-person situations, emails, texts and social media.” Federal agents will also cease protection of her Los Angeles home.

READ MORE: ‘Brutal’: Trump Approval Tanks as Support Plummets Across Key Issues, Poll Shows

A spokesperson for California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom told CNN, “The safety of our public officials should never be subject to erratic, vindictive political impulses.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blasted the decision.

“This is another act of revenge following a long list of political retaliation in the form of firings, the revoking of security clearances and more. This puts the former Vice President in danger and I look forward to working with the Governor to make sure Vice President Harris is safe in Los Angeles.”

Axios adds that “Harris joins a slew of Trump adversaries whom have seen the president abruptly end their security details amid a volatile political climate. She faced death threats while in office and on the campaign trail last year.”

U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) wrote: “Another dangerous reminder that there’s no agenda more important to Donald Trump than retribution. He feeds conspiracy theories to his followers. Makes their targets more vulnerable. Then pulls their security. This is a dark road. And we have a President that is all-too-willing to drive us down it.”

READ MORE: ‘Hard Questions’: VP Echoes False Claim About Antidepressants and Mass Shootings

Image via Shutterstock