Networks & Digital Warfare

Who’s Who in Defense: Joni Ernst, Chairman, Senate Armed Services (SASC) Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities

For the 119th Congress, Ernst again picks up the reins of a legislative body with jurisdiction over the programs and policies related to: intelligence; counterterrorism; special operations; weapons of mass destruction; and drug trafficking.

By Catherine Macaulay on July 25, 2025 2:38 pm

Chairman, Senate Armed Services (SASC) Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities

Senator Joni Ernst, R-Iowa

Responsibilities

  • Sen. Ernst is no newcomer to chairing the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, having done so with the 116th Congress. For the 119th Congress, she again picks up the reins of a legislative body with jurisdiction over the programs and policies related to intelligence; counterterrorism; special operations; weapons of mass destruction; and drug trafficking. The subcommittee also has a hand in the potential threats posed by information warfare.
  • The 15-member Senate subcommittee oversees the following DoD commands and agencies: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; Defense Security Cooperation Agency; National Security Agency; Defense Intelligence Agency; National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; National Reconnaissance Office; and Special Operations Command. 
  • Additionally, the subcommittee spearheads budget accounts for Army and Air Force research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E), and procurements outside of space, cyber, nuclear weapons, special operations, and ammunition.

Quote

During a June 2025 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Ernst, a longtime advocate of fiscal responsibility in governance, said “I got my start in public service as a county auditor, so this is really exciting stuff for me. The Marine Corps has achieved a clean audit – not once but twice – which is very, very good. It proves really that success is possible when you have really good leadership that prioritizes it.”

Committees/Caucuses 

  • Chairs the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee; the Rural Development, Energy, and Credit Subcommittee; and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Subcommittee.
  • Serves on both the Cybersecurity and Personnel subcommittees; the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; the Border Management, Federal Workforce, and Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee; the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; the Conservation, Forestry, Natural Resources, and Biotechnology Subcommittee; and the Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, and Food Safety Subcommittee, among others. 
  • Founded the Senate Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus in late 2024. 

Military

  • Served in the Iowa Army National Guard from 1993 to 2015. Retired as a lieutenant colonel.
  • Served as a company commander in Kuwait and Iraq, leading 150 Iowa Army National Guardsmen during Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

Political/Professional Career 

  • Chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee from 2023 to 2025.
  • Vice chair of the Senate Republican Conference since 2019. 
  • Elected to the US Senate in 2015.
  • Served in the Iowa State Senate from 2011 to 2014.
  • Auditor of Montgomery County, IA, from 2005 to 2011. 

 Education

  • Columbus State University – MPA in 1995.
  • Iowa State University – BA in 1992. Joined the university’s ROTC program.

Personal 

  • Joni Ernst (nee Culver), was born on July 1, 1970, to Richard and Marilyn Culver. She is a native of Red Oak, IA, a rural community named after the Red Oak Creek that populates it. Today, she lives not far from where she was born. 
  • Divorced, she has three children. 
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