Exclusive: Sen. Joni Ernst Vows to End Pelosi’s Biden-Funded Over Budget, Overdue Rail Extension Pork Project

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst announced she is working hard to bring down San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s pork project, which is part of the administration’s infrastructure bill and has been declared a “success” despite being billions of dollars over budget and over a decade behind schedule.  

Ernst slammed the project — the Biden-funded South Bay rail extension plan — as a “boondoggle,”

In recognition of “Sunshine Week,” which promotes open government and warns against unnecessary secrecy, as well as her promise to make Washington “squeal,” Senate Republican Policy Committee Chair Joni Ernst announced she will be “shining a light” on and exposing the staggering price tag of former Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s pork project, which involves a six-mile rail extension initially sold to the public for $4.7 billion. 

However, after securing billions in taxpayer dollars from Washington, that price has nearly tripled and now has a price tag of $12.8 billion — equating to over $2 billion per mile. In addition, the project was initially scheduled to be completed within two years, but is now not projected to be finished until 2037.

It’s #SunshineWeek, folks! ☀️
 
This week, I’ll be shining a light on reckless government spending and standing up for wasted taxpayer dollars! #makeemsqueal

— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) March 11, 2024

In an exclusive statement to Breitbart News on Wednesday, Senator Joni Ernst accused the 83-year-old California Rep. of reckless expenditure of public resources.

“Pelosi’s pork project once again is ballooning billions of dollars over budget,” she said, adding that “breaking ground on her rail expansion has greased the wheels for Biden’s gravy train.” 

While the president “still brags about his infrastructure bill,” Ernst suggested that “this project sums up the ‘success’ it’s having: billions over budget and more than a decade behind schedule with taxpayers stuck with the bill for a boondoggle that is going nowhere fast.” 

She concluded by vowing to continue working to “bring the Democrats’ extravagant ride to a squealing halt, so taxpayers are no longer on the hook for these runaway costs.”

Instead of canceling the project that is billions over budget and more than a decade behind schedule, the Biden administration insists the infrastructure program be treated as “one of their top transit projects” in the country. 

Earlier this month, House Democrats blocked a motion that would have eliminated the subway tunnel in Silicon Valley championed by Pelosi to pay for more mental health in the coronavirus bill. While the project was later dropped due to Republican opposition, President Biden continues to fund it, with a new audit finding the public was misled about the whopping cost.

Though Ernst wrote a law to bring gravy trains to a “squealing halt,” the Biden administration refuses to comply — knowing it would make the president answerable for his numerous costly failures.

On Monday, Ernst sent a letter to the administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), Isabel Casillas Guzman, criticizing the government agency’s failure to meet transparency requirements.

“In light of this being Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of the public’s right to know what the government is doing, I am calling on the SBA to stop keeping taxpayers in the dark and comply with the law,” she wrote. “I know sunlight is the best disinfectant, because I’ve stopped billions of dollars of wasteful spending by shining a bright light on it, including my recent effort to force SBA to recollect billions of dollars of delinquent small business loans.”

In December, Ernst urged the administration to relocate taxpayer-funded government buildings from President Biden’s “D.C. swamp” to the “heartland” — where they can be “more accountable to the hardworking Americans” there — after disclosing a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report revealing most federal offices are largely vacant due to widespread teleworking among federal employees.

Biden admin doesn’t want the public to see the naughty list of no-shows, but I’ll share!

I’m calling on Biden’s bureaucrats to deck the agency halls with federal workers or sell off unused space🎄 pic.twitter.com/9JyPNSds5o

— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) December 5, 2023

In October, Ernst successfully introduced a bill amendment reducing pay for bureaucrats based on their telework extent and remote work locations. She also demanded a probe into remote work’s impact on productivity earlier in September.

In September, she announced a reform package in an effort to hold the “entrenched federal bureaucracy” accountable, “drain the swamp,” and “cut red tape.”

The package of solutions includes bringing decision-making “closer to the American people and mak[ing] government responsive to the real needs of Americans” through the SWAMP Act she introduced.