River Bend Times

U.S. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who represents Iowa’s 1st district in Congress, used her social media platform to criticize Democratic leaders regarding the recent government shutdown and its impact on military personnel.

On October 2, 2025, Miller-Meeks posted that "Iowa National Guard troops won’t get paid during the shutdown because Democrats chose $1.5T in new spending and taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants over America’s troops, veterans, and families."

Later that same day, she continued her critique by stating, "This didn’t have to happen. Republicans, and even some Democrats, voted for a clean, bipartisan, bicameral bill to keep the government open. Schumer and Jeffries killed it. They care more about appeasing radical activists in their party and taxpayer funded benefits for illegal" on October 2, 2025.

The following morning on October 3, Miller-Meeks addressed her Democratic colleagues directly: "To my Democrat colleagues: Stop holding American families, veterans, seniors, and our military hostage. Vote to reopen the government, and stop trying to spend trillions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars on benefits for illegal immigrants."

Miller-Meeks has represented Iowa’s 1st congressional district since 2021 after succeeding Dave Loebsack. Before joining Congress, she served in the Iowa Senate from 2019 to 2021. Born in Herlong, California in 1955 and now residing in Le Claire, Miller-Meeks earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Texas Christian University in 1976.