Time for Questions

Donald Trump is heading toward 2025 fueled by one of the biggest political comebacks in the history of the United States. Kamala Harris is heading toward…?

Many questions seek answers, too.

Photo by Simone Secci on Unsplash

Why Florida over Iowa? —Iowa Senator Joni Ernst skipped the chance to spend election night in Iowa and support other Republicans on the ballot. Governor Kim Reynolds did, too.

(Image courtesy: Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds via X/Twitter.)

Instead, as we learned from Reynolds’ social media post, the two attended Trump’s victory party at his Mar-A-Lago Resort in Florida. Why did they go there? Neither Iowa Republican endorsed Trump before the Iowa Caucuses. Ernst remained publicly neutral. Reynolds supported Trump’s rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Did both Ernst and Reynolds go to Florida to try to repair their relationship with Trump? Did Ernst think that it could better her chance to get chosen as U.S. Secretary of Defense? Was she thinking ahead to 2026 when she runs for re-election and wants to make sure that Trump would support her and not a Republican challenger?

What about Reynolds? Is there a spot in Trump’s administration that she wants? Did she want to make sure that Trump doesn’t support another Republican instead of her in a 2026 gubernatorial primary if she runs for re-election? Was she just on the trip to support her friend, Ernst?

Will senators step aside? — Ernst, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, and the other U.S. senators will have to decide if they will support Trump’s cabinet appointments? Will senators essentially just step aside as Trump demanded, so that he won’t have to get senate confirmation on his political picks?

Has this action ever happened in the history of the United States? Doesn’t the senate have a duty to vet cabinet picks to make sure they have the qualifications and character to serve in those roles on behalf of the American people?

In March 2016 as President Barack Obama’s final term in office was winding down, he nominated Merrick Garland (cousin of former Iowa governor Terry Branstad) to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. It was eight months before the election. Grassley refused to allow confirmation hearings.

Will he support this latest unprecedented move, too?

Staying the Course — Iowa Democrats not only didn’t pick up seats in the house of representatives on election night, but they went backwards in their push to regain the majority. Republicans will have about two out of every three seats in the chamber.

But Democrats chose to keep Jennifer Konfrst as their minority leader. I asked her about her sales pitch to the caucus and what is ahead. It’s part of the latest “Inside Iowa Politics.”

Watch that here.

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