Last summer, all six members of Iowa’s congressional delegation voted for President Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, which cut $1 trillion from Medicaid. As the Des Moines Register reported at the time, the cuts will result in an estimated 11.8 million people losing health coverage. The bill also cut food stamps by $300 billion, resulting in over 100,000 Iowans losing food benefits.

To hear our Republican representatives tell it, these cuts were a necessary evil. For example, Representative Randy Feenstra said he voted for the bill to “make sure that we reduce our debt.” The message was clear: it would be nice for the government to help with healthcare and food assistance, but as a country, we can’t afford it.

Now, another funding decision has come before Congress. President Trump has decided to start an unnecessary and brutal war with Iran, but he needs Congress to pay for it. So far, the war has cost Americans over $1 billion per day. And now the Pentagon is requesting over $200 billion in order to continue. ( Pentagon seeks over $200 billion in Iran war supplemental budget request – The Washington Post ). This massive request is equivalent to how much we spent per year at the height of the Iraq war.

If you think our fiscally-minded representatives are concerned about this huge spending spree on a war of choice, you are dead wrong. Earlier this month, our delegation voted against the war powers resolution, giving the war in Iran their stamp of approval.

Similarly, our representatives have all voted to give yet more money to ICE and Border Patrol, on top of the $140 billion that they received from the Big “Beautiful” Bill. That amount was already over ten times their previous budget. We have all seen how that money is being spent: hiring thousands of poorly trained recruits to terrorize communities like Minneapolis, and self-promoting advertising campaigns for former secretary Kristi Noem.

This past year has brought front and center the priorities of Senators Grassley and Ernst, and Representatives Nunn, Hinson, Feenstra and Miller-Meeks. They’re fine with giving Trump a blank check to bomb Iran, and billions to ICE for their unconstitutional reign of terror. But when it comes to solving the healthcare crisis and helping struggling Iowans, all of a sudden, they care about every cent.

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Kim Hagemann lives in rural Polk County and is a longtime board member of Iowa CCI Action Fund and member of the Fighting Oligarchy leadership team.