This time six years ago, Joni Ernst was the county auditor in Montgomery County, Iowa, with a population right around 10,000.
Now, the first-term U.S. senator is among those the media says Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting Donald Trump is considering as a potential running mate. By anyone’s definition, her star isn’t just rising—it’s skyrocketing.
Some have argued it’s because she’s a woman who served in a combat zone in the military. Others point to her now-famous “make ’em squeal” campaign ad. But those who have been following her legislative record point to her ability to “get things done”—not just under the golden dome of the Iowa Statehouse, but inside the Beltway, too.
Her latest legislative victory, however, is likely to make future former presidents squeal.
Friday, the House of Representatives passed the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act, which reforms the “retirement package” for former presidents. The House version was an amended version of the bill originally crafted by Ernst and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), which passed the Senate two weeks prior.
“With our nation drowning in $19 trillion in debt, we must tighten our belts and find ways to cut wasteful spending,” she said. “The millions in expenditures and subsidies in presidential perks do not line up with the realities of post-presidential life. The Presidential Allowance Modernization Act removes the unnecessary and outdated presidential perks and better reflects the spending needs of our time.”
Congress created the Former Presidents Act, which was designed to “maintain the dignity” of former presidents and provide benefits to help cover costs associated with holding the office of the president, in 1958. But, during the 2015 fiscal year, taxpayers paid more than $2.4 million in travel, office space, communications, personnel, and other expenses for former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.
Ernst’s bill doesn’t affect the protection and security provided for the former presidents, but it does do the following:
- Set former presidents’ monetary allowance and pension at $200,000 each per year.
- Place reductions on perks if the former president earns more than $400,000 per year in income.
The bill has been sent to President Obama—who is himself set to become a former president in about six months—for his signature. Ernst has been slated to have a “prime time” speaking appearance at the Republican National Convention, which begins next week in Cleveland.
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