Ashley Hinson backed rollbacks as PFAS contamination spread

Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson repeatedly voted to loosen clean water rules, potentially exposing her constituents to PFAS and other hazardous chemicals.

Hinson is now a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate and may face tough questions about her environmental record and its detrimental effect on public health. A January 2026 poll by Food & Water Action found that 58% of Iowa voters rank water quality and water pollution as serious concerns.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, are chemical compounds that are resistant to water damage. They are used to manufacture several products, including cosmetics, yoga mats, cell phones, and food packaging. Exposure to PFAS in drinking water has been linked to various cancers and birth defects.

“We’re finding them contaminating many rivers, many lakes, many drinking water supplies,” Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, told NPR. “And we’re finding them not only in the environment, but we’re finding them in people.”

A 2022 review by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) found PFAS in at least 12 of the state’s drinking water supplies.

In July 2021, Hinson voted against the PFAS Action Act, which would have compelled the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to monitor waterways for PFAS contamination and implement federal cleanup standards. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support but was blocked by Senate Republicans.

Between 2023 and 2025, Hinson voted four times to limit the scope of the Clean Water Act, the primary federal law governing water pollution in the United States. That includes twice voting to explicitly limit federal oversight of polluted waters.

Hinson also backed an amendment to a 2023 bill that would have limited the EPA’s ability to address water contamination issues across state lines. The amendment did not pass.

Hinson was also a vocal supporter of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Trump administration program that made massive and potentially illegal cuts to the federal budget, imperiling services that millions of Americans depend on.

DOGE cuts are now being blamed for a Defense Department decision to delay a PFAS cleanup effort at 140 military installations across the country. Military families living close to these sites have dealt with dangerously high rates of PFAS contamination in their tap water.

Two of the affected sites are Air National Guard bases in Des Moines and Sioux City. Des Moines Water Works warned in a 2019 letter to DNR that PFAS on military bases threatened the drinking water of 50,000 central Iowans.

“I think that this is exactly what the federal government needs,” Hinson said of DOGE last year. “Taxpayers voted for accountability and transparency.”

Hinson is now running to succeed retiring Sen. Joni Ernst. Her Democratic opponent will be chosen in a June 2 primary.