Senator Joni Ernst takes the oath as Senator Charles Grassley looks on.
Five of the six Iowans serving today in the U.S. Congress were sworn into office yesterday.
Third district Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, has started her second term in the U.S. House. Axne stood on the Capitol steps and recorded a statement that was posted on Twitter.
“I am looking forward to getting to work for Iowans once again, making sure that we address the issues, of course, with Covid and get people back to a health state and put money in their pockets,” Axne said. “Of course we’ve got to make sure coming out of that that our country can thrive.”
Axne is the dean of the Iowa delegation since the other three representatives from Iowa are all starting their first terms in the House. First district Congresswoman Ashley
Congresswoman Axne tweeted pictures with Congressman Feenstra, Hinson and Miller-Meeks.
Hinson of Marion posted a video on Twitter that she recorded as she walked toward the capitol.
“I’m so excited. I’m ready to serve you, spent my day today getting my office up and running,” Hinson said. “We’re taking as many calls as we can already.”
Fourth district Congressman Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, issued a written statement, saying on he looks forward to finding conservative solutions that will create a booming economy for taxpayers. Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa, from Iowa’s second congressional district, was sworn in as a provisional member of the House. Democrat Rita Hart is asking a House committee to order another recount in the second district race after Miller-Meeks won by just six votes. Miller-Meeks, in a written statement, said in congress she’ll do her “best to help Iowa workers and businesses get back to work” and get children “safely back to school.”
On the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol, the vice president administered the oath of office to Republican Joni Ernst, who has started her second term in the U.S. Senate. Senator Charles Grassley stood behind Ernst as she was sworn into office, but didn’t take the oath. Grassley has two more years remaining on his 7th term in the U.S. Senate.
Neither Grassley nor Ernst has indicated whether they will join a dozen other GOP senators on Wednesday in rejecting the Electoral College results until a 10-day “emergency audit” of the 2020 presidential election can be conducted. Neither senator has commented publicly on a recording, first obtained by the Washington Post, in which President Trump asks Georgia officials to overturn Biden’s win in that state.