Reynolds admits to gutting Sand’s auditing ability at DC oversight hearing

In a hearing about government oversight, Gov. Kim Reynolds admits to restricting the Iowa auditor’s oversight of state government. 

Gov. Kim Reynolds was in Washington D.C. today, appearing before a US House committee meeting on government oversight to brag about her work in Iowa and further praise Donald Trump’s presidency. But while she may have hoped to use the national appearance to further her political standing under Trump, pointed questions from a committee member may have caused her some unexpected problems back home.

US Rep. Shontel Brown of Ohio asked why Reynolds signed a bill limiting her own state auditor’s access to information.

“In 2023, did you sign a bill to gut the state auditor’s ability to hold you and the state government accountable? Yes or no?” Brown asked.

“A bill was signed to restrict the… to address this,” Reynold said.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Brown said.

“Yes.”

The auditor is a statewide elected position charged with keeping an eye on government and its spending. Currently, the office belongs to Rob Sand, the state’s only statewide Democrat. His investigations recently uncovered $430,000 in embezzled federal funds.

But two years ago, Reynolds signed SF478, a bill passed with only Republican support in the Iowa Legislature, aimed at undermining Sand’s abilities. Her party’s line was that it protected Iowans’ personal information. It did that by preventing the auditor from suing another statewide officeholder or state entity to gain access to documents. Instead, when there is a dispute, they form a three person panel. One selected by the auditor, one picked by the agency being audited and a third picked by the governor. Their decisions are final. 

During a 2023 appearance on Iowa PBS’ Iowa Press, she said that the state auditor was part of the executive branch and that taxpayers expected the executive branch “to work things out.”

In practice, the bill limits the extent to which government has to comply with the state auditor during investigations. Sand has called it the “most pro-corruption bill in Iowa history.”

“They call it a ‘gaffe’ when a politician accidentally tells the truth, and Gov. Reynolds did that today,” Sand said in a statement following Reynolds’ appearance Wednesday. “She agreed that the bill she signed in 2023 gutted the Auditor’s Office of its ability to hold her and state government accountable to the taxpayers of Iowa.”

Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson Paige Godden said she was finally being held accountable for “a history of wasting taxpayer dollars and blocking the state auditor from seeing how money is being spent so she can sweep expenses that help her friends’ donors, and special interest groups out under the rug.”

You can watch the full video here.