Four in five Iowans support citizenship for DREAMers
Eighty-one percent of Iowans consider it a “worthy goal” to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children, according to the latest statewide poll by...
View ArticleIowa Republicans in Congress split on deal to keep government open
The deal to keep the federal government open until March 23 revealed unusual fissures among Republicans who represent Iowa in Congress. Under the compromise, which President Donald Trump signed early...
View ArticleHouse approves Farm Bill with food assistance cuts: How the Iowans voted
The U.S. House approved a five-year farm bill on June 21 by 213 votes to 211, with support from Iowa GOP Representatives Rod Blum (IA-01), David Young (IA-03), and Steve King (IA-04). Every Democrat...
View ArticleHistory made in U.S. House: How the Iowans voted
Democratic Representatives Abby Finkenauer (IA-01) and Cindy Axne (IA-03) joined a long list of “firsts” when they were sworn in on January 3. Iowa had never elected a woman to the U.S. House before...
View ArticleThe case for a Democratic message of fiscal sustainability
Clive native T.J. Foley is a Harvard College undergraduate. -promoted by Laura Belin As shutdowns abound and federal workers around the country continue to celebrate the holidays without their...
View ArticleIowa Congressional reaction to ending government shutdown
The federal government reopened as of 9:23 pm Eastern time on January 25. Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump retreated from his demand that any spending bill include money for a wall along the...
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Iowa Republicans complicit in Trump’s fake national emergency
“Whatever a national emergency may be, that’s not it,” tweeted experienced Supreme Court litigator Neal Katyal, after President Donald Trump admitted during his February 15 press conference, “I didn’t...
View ArticleWhy Iowa’s not challenging Trump’s emergency declaration–for now
Iowa is not among the sixteen states that filed suit yesterday to block what they called President Donald Trump’s “unconstitutional and unlawful scheme” to declare a national emergency in order to...
View ArticleGrassley, Ernst can show they’re serious about executive overreach
The U.S. House voted on February 26 to terminate President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to build a wall that Congress repeatedly declined to authorize or fund. All 232 Democrats...
View Article59 senators defended the constitution. Not Chuck Grassley or Joni Ernst
President Donald Trump will soon cast his first veto. The U.S. Senate approved on March 14 a resolution disapproving of Trump’s declaration of emergency powers. All 47 members of the Democratic caucus...
View ArticleFive things to know about Trump’s sabotage budget
Matt Sinovic is the executive director of Progress Iowa. -promoted by Laura Belin This week, the Trump administration released its proposed budget for fiscal year 2020, which revives a call to repeal...
View ArticleIA-01: First thoughts on a possible Rod Blum-Abby Finkenauer rematch
Thomas Nelson of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier was first to report last week that former U.S. Representative Rod Blum’s campaign has spent $11,365 on polling this year. Blum’s quarterly filing with...
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Thomas Kedley is first Republican candidate in IA-02
Osceola Mayor Thomas Kedley is the first declared Republican candidate in Iowa’s second Congressional district, Zachary Oren Smith was first to report for the Iowa City Press-Citizen on May 6. Kedley...
View ArticleRepublican’s stunt holds up flood relief funding
Iowans awaiting federal flood relief money will have to wait a little longer. Congressional leaders thought they had a deal to approve $19.1 billion in disaster aid before the Memorial Day recess. The...
View ArticleGrassley, Ernst again vote for extreme budget, hope no one notices
For the second year in a row, Iowa’s U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst voted to advance a budget plan that would require massive cuts to most federal government programs in the coming decade....
View ArticleHouse approves defense authorization bill: How the Iowans voted
The U.S. House on July 12 approved a draft National Defense Authorization Act, setting military policy for the coming fiscal year. The final vote on passage split mostly along party lines, 220 to 197...
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Exclusive: Iowa Democrats recall first Congressional vote on Hyde amendment
Forty-three years ago this week, Congress overrode a presidential veto to enact an appropriations bill containing the first ban on federal funding for abortion. Republican U.S. Representative Henry...
View ArticleWhat the Iowans fought for, bragged about in massive year-end spending bills
The U.S. House and Senate managed to wrap up their work for the year without shutting down the government, an improvement on the state of affairs when the fully Republican-controlled Congress left for...
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Joni Ernst learned the wrong lesson from Chuck Grassley
Senator Joni Ernst shouldn’t be in this position. Given Iowans’ tendency to re-elect incumbents and the state’s rightward drift this past decade, she should be running ten points ahead. Instead, Iowa’s...
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Exclusive: Payment scheme concealed CARES Act funds for governor’s staff
Federal funds used to cover salaries and benefits for Governor Kim Reynolds’ staffers were routed through the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, rather than going directly...
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