(Radio Iowa) – There will be a new floor leader in the Iowa House for the 2026 legislative session that starts Monday. Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton was selected by his fellow Republicans to be House Majority Leader. He’s predicting lawmakers will complete their work earlier than usual.

“I think this is an edict that my caucus gave me when they elected me was for us to really get out of the gate quickly. Get bills going. Get things done. Get momentum,” Kaufmann said, “and not spend as much time here when the lawn mowers are going and the grass is green outside.” Kaufmann has held powerful positions in the past. He was chairman of the House Oversight Committee in 2018 when it investigated whistleblower complaints about 380-thousand dollars being misspent by a state agency.

“I think that the fact that we are raising this egrgious act into such a high profile should scare the living daylights out of anybody else that may be acting nefariously,” Kaufmann said. Kaufmann more recently led the House panel that drafts tax policy and he’s been a vocal critic of giving Summit Carbon Solutions eminent domain power to seize land along its proposed carbon pipeline.

“There’s a lot of four letter words I could use to describe that and I will not do that,” Kaufmann said three years ago. “I’ll just simply call it B.S.” Kaufmann worked on Governor Terry Branstad’s 2010 campaign and in 2024, Kaufmann was a senior policy advisor to President Trump’s re-election campaign. “My style is definitely much like the president’s,” Kaufmann said, “and I will never shy away from that, ever.” Kaufmann says his new role inside the legislature is listen to the other House Republicans and build consensus among the group.

“We are a 67-member team and my job is to steer that team on the floor and my job is to take all their opinions,” Kaufmann said, “and do my best to make sure that those views are represented in legislation.” Kaufmann, who is 41, raises livestock and operates a steel hauling, construction and demolition business. He’s been a member of the Iowa House since 2013. He won the seat that had previously been held by his dad, Jeff Kaufmann, who’s been chairman of the Iowa Republican Party since 2014.

“He and I actually don’t talk about politics as much as people think,” Bobby Kaufmann said. “I always tell him he’s one of 30,000 constituents and he has to get in line like everybody else.” The Kaufmanns farm together in Cedar County. The 2026 Iowa legislature convenes Monday at 10 a.m.