U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks takes a jab at her opponent
U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, takes a jab at Christina Bohannan while at U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson’s BBQ Bash.
Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and her 1st Congressional District Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan are backing ethics measures that would ban congressional lawmakers from trading stocks.
Bohannan, who is seen as the frontrunner to seek her party’s nomination a third time to challenge Miller-Meeks in the 2026 midterm elections, on Wednesday, Nov. 19, unveiled a broad ethics plan that also would institute term limits and make other tweaks to the standards governing federal office holders’ conduct.
“I think that public trust in Congress is at an all-time low and people see that Congress members are using their office accounts, their campaign funds for personal use to benefit themselves, their families, their big donors and then they vote their way and not ours every single time,” Bohannan told the Des Moines Register. “I think that it is causing people to lose faith in our government, and I don’t want people to check out.”
Miller-Meeks later Wednesday called on the House Committee on Administration to advance the Restore Trust in Congress Act, a bill she signed onto as a cosponsor in September that would ban members of Congress and their spouses from buying or selling individual stocks while serving in office.
She suggested the use of diversified mutual funds, index funds or blind trusts as alternatives and urged a “strong, uniform enforcement mechanisms with meaningful penalties for violations.”
“At a time when Americans’ trust in their elected officials remains strained, Congress must take meaningful and immediate steps to demonstrate that we place the public’s interest above our own,” Miller-Meeks wrote in a letter to committee Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin, and ranking member Joseph Morelle, D-New York.
Bohannan’s ethics package calls to ban stock trading by all members of Congress, the executive branch and Supreme Court justices as well as their spouses and staff.
Miller-Meeks does not own any individual stocks. Bohannan’s financial disclosure filed with the House clerk on Oct. 15 shows she has some individual tech stocks but plans to divest her portfolio if elected.
Lawmakers may currently own individual stocks but must disclose trades and potential conflicts of interest. They must report stock transactions over $1,000 within 30 days of receiving notice under existing rules.
What else is in Christina Bohannan’s ethics package?
Bohannan is calling to institute term limits and age caps on those who serve but didn’t specify what she considered appropriate limits, saying that could be negotiated. She said some politicians serve for more than 30 years, which she considered far too long.
“We are seeing people who frankly don’t seem always to be fully competent to do the job, but because of their seniority and because of the lack of term limits and so on, they just stay forever,” Bohannan said. “And we need new leadership, we need new representation, we need new voices in Congress.”
She’s also advocating to pass a constitutional amendment to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision that allowed corporations greater campaign spending, pushing to instead block unlimited corporate spending on campaigns.
And the Iowa City Democrat wants to ban the use of congressional leadership political action committees as a “loophole” to personal spending.
Bohannan called to end pay to all members of Congress, the executive branch and their staff during federal government shutdowns, and instead use that income to pay down the national debt.
Miller-Meeks said in a statement she has “been championing this accountability from the start” as she requested to have her pay withheld during the historic 43-day government shutdown that ended Nov. 12.
The Ottumwa Republican cosponsored the No Budget, No Pay bill that would bar congressional lawmakers from being paid until both chambers OK a budget resolution and pass all regular appropriations bills for that fiscal year.
Bohannan’s ethics package also looks to:
- Create a bipartisan, independent Congressional Ethics Agency with the power to investigate members for wrongdoing “with some teeth” to subject lawmakers to accountability instead of relying on them to police themselves.
- Ban personal use of congressional office budgets.
- Permanently ban all congressional lawmakers, their families and their staff from becoming lobbyists, including retroactively.
- Ban family members from being paid by campaigns or official offices.
- Ban congressional lawmakers from using taxpayer dollars for first-class and business-class air travel.
- Institute a code of ethics for Supreme Court justices.
Ethics changes would end the ‘privileges and perks of being in Congress’
Bohannan cast Miller-Meeks as being “out of touch with everyday Iowans.”
“I am looking to end a lot of the abuses, the privileges and perks of being in Congress and try to restore faith in government and make sure that Congress is actually listening to everyday people, not just listening to the billionaires and the special interest and the donors and the corporate PACs that currently dominate Washington,” Bohannan said.
In a statement, Miller-Meeks said “imitation is the finest form of flattery.”
“After over 150 days without releasing any policy priorities, Christina Bohannan finally put some out, and they’re the same policies I’ve already been leading on,” the third-term congresswoman said.
The 20-county 1st District encompasses the cities of Davenport, Iowa City, Keokuk and Indianola.
The 1st District race is shaping up to be one of the nation’s most competitive congressional races as Democrats have placed it among their top targets as they look to grab control of Congress.
Elections analysts consider it a “tossup,” meaning either party has a fair shot of nabbing the seat.
Miller-Meeks faces another primary challenge from David Pautsch, a Davenport businessman and founder of the Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast. On the Democratic side, Taylor Wettach, a Muscatine attorney, and Travis Terrell, a University of Iowa Health Care employee from Tiffin, also are seeking the nomination.
Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Des Moines Register. Reach her by email at mjpayne@registermedia.com.