Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst is a new face in Washington, and a "perfect" choice to deliver the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.

Both Democrats and Republicans agree that not all of the President’s agenda will be passed in Senate and Congress, and there is still room for more work to be done.

Some of the sticking points in Sen. Ernst’s speech included a criticism for the President’s proposals for higher taxes and Medicaid. She called for a “change the direction Washington has been taking our country.”

Both houses, now dominated by the Republicans, perceive they have a platform to get "more work done."

“Republican Congress also understands how difficult these past six years have been. For many of us, the sting of the economy and the frustration with Washington’s dysfunction,” said Sen. Ernst taking a jab at the President’s stagnating policies.

Ernst also referred to policies like “Obamacare” as failures driven by inaction. She added that Americans need "serious job-creation ideas you deserve.”

She continued to say, “health care law that’s hurt so many hardworking families, we’ll work to correct executive overreach, we’ll propose ideas that aim to cut wasteful spending and balance the budget with meaningful reforms, not higher taxes like the president has proposed, we’ll advance solutions to prevent the kind of cyber attacks we’ve seen recently, we’ll work to confront Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and we’ll defend life, because protecting our most vulnerable is an important measure of any society.”

Sen. Ernst also talked about the Keystone jobs bill. She said President Obama “has been delaying this bipartisan infrastructure project.”

The Senator, who is also an Iowa National Guard, said “the President’s own State Department has said Keystone’s construction could support thousands of jobs and pump billions into our economy, and do it with minimal environmental impact.