First district Congresswoman-elect Christina Bohannan, a Democrat from Iowa City, is hoping to serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee after she is sworn into office on January 3.
Former Congressman Dave Loeback of Mount Vernon served on the committee and Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks is a current member. “It’s a really important committee for southeast Iowa,” Bohannan said yesterday. “It deals with things like Medicaid, which I have been hearing for months now our rural hospitals really depend on. They’re very concerned about these potentially catastrophic losses when all of these Medicaid cuts go into effect.” The One Big Beautiful Bill President Trump signed into law in July of last year outlines new rules for Medicaid eligibility that are estimated to reduce Medicaid spending by up to a billion dollars over 10 years.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee also deals with issues surrounding biofuels and data centers. Bohannan said future legislation should ensure data centers pay their own way. “That they are not increasing our electricity costs or water costs at all and that local communities have full say and veto power over any data centers locating here in Iowa,” Bohannan said,” so I do think that we need some real rules on that and some regulation of A.I. as well.”
Bohannan, who lost to Miller-Meeks in 2022 by 7 points and by 799 votes in 2024, finished 9 points ahead of Miller-Meeks in this year’s election. “This district, southeast Iowa’s first congressional district, is way less focused on political party,” Bohannan said during a phone interview with Radio Iowa. “…Political parties are taking a back seat to everyday Iowans, you know, wanting to restore trust in their government and wanting government to really focus on issues affecting working people, including bringing down costs.”
During an interview last week, Miller-Meeks told Radio Iowa this was a challenging year for Iowa Republicans because of open races for governor and U.S. Senate at the top of the ticket. “For me, this is always a close race. It’s a purple district,” Miller-Meeks said.
On Tuesday night, Miller-Meeks issued a written statement, calling the election results “disappointing.” Miller-Meeks ended by saying the country is “at a crossroads, and our fight isn’t over.”
