Ernst Focuses on GOP Priorities in State of the Union Response - NBCNews.com

By Andrew Rafferty

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said voters sent a "loud and clear" message in the midterm elections and pledged to forge ahead with Republican's legislative agenda in her GOP response to President Obama's State of the Union.

"We heard the message you sent in November — loud and clear. And now we're getting to work to change the direction Washington has been taking our country," Ernst said.

The 10-minute speech mentioned the president just a handful of times and was much kinder to the White House than many of her Republican colleagues. Instead of focusing on Obama, Ernst laid out a GOP agenda that will face stiff opposition in Congress, even with Republican control of both the House and Senate.

Ernst talked about GOP priorities like approving the Keystone XL pipeline and repealing the Affordable Care Act, two partisan issues that would be vetoed by the president.

"That's why the new Republican majority you elected started by reforming Congress to make it function again," she said. "And now, we're working hard to pass the kind of serious job-creation ideas you deserve."

But many of her GOP colleagues had much harsher critiques of the president's speech.

"Tonight isn't about the president's legacy. It's about the people's priorities: Making government bigger isn't going to help the middle class," House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday in a pre-buttal to the address. "More growth and more opportunity will help the middle class and those are the Republican priorities."

Former Arkansas governor and possible 2016 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said voters "sent a resounding message of rejection to his liberal policies in November."

"President Obama needs to stop just talking about bipartisanship and actually start a meaningful dialogue with members of our Republican-controlled congress," Huckabee said in a statement. "The State of the Union is a good place to put down his pen and phone and roll up his sleeves to begin the consensus building."

First published January 20 2015, 4:01 PM

Andrew Rafferty

Andrew Rafferty has been a political reporter for NBCNews.com since 2013. Rafferty writes and reports on politics for the web, and shoots and produces video for all NBC platforms.

Prior to joining NBCNews.com, Rafferty was a campaign reporter covering the 2012 presidential election. Rafferty was on the road for both the Republican primaries and general election, providing content for both the web and television.

Rafferty began at NBC News through a fellowship at "Meet The Press."

He is from Buffalo, N.Y., and attended John Carroll University in Ohio.

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