Using the Power of the Majority
Much is happening. Significant changes. Republicans have significant political control over Iowa’s state government and majority control of the federal government. And they are working to take advantage of the power that voters gave them last November.
Iowa Republicans are using their legislative supermajorities to push forward with additional restrictions regarding a trio of acronyms: LGBTQ, DEI and ICE.
Legislation would…
make it a felony to take a child to a drag show.
extend the ban from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation from the current kindergarten to sixth grade levels all the way through high school (public schools, not private).
remove public libraries and schools from state exemption regarding “obscene” material (this could remove books containing sexually explicit material or LGBTQ-themed experiences, as laid out in this Iowa Capital Dispatch article.)
remove gender identity as a protected class in the Iowa Civil Rights Act. Much of this effort seems focused on transgender people (birth certificates, girls’ sports, locker rooms/bathrooms, and gender reassignment surgeries for minors and prisoners).
no more diversity, equity and inclusion at public or private universities or city/council/state agencies. The Republicans’ nationwide commitment to ending DEI is remarkable and widespread.
require local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration policy. Many voters want action on immigration it seems. It has also been interesting how local law enforcement (at least those who have spoken publicly) seem to have concerns about getting involved in apprehensions/investigations/deportations of people suspected of being in the country illegally.
The Future — How much of the above proposals will Republicans approve before the session ends this spring and how much will public resistance stop?
Will the drag show bill and proposed change to the Iowa Civil Rights Act will be two of the more challenging proposals to get through both chambers?
He’s Running — Brad Sherman is not especially well-known. But he hopes to expand the familiarity that he has built as a pastor speaking to groups across the state into a winning Republican gubernatorial primary campaign. Sherman also served one term in the Iowa house.
He didn’t tell me a lot of specific differences that he has with Governor Kim Reynolds (more on her future in a moment) during our conversation this week. Sherman said several times that Republicans have too often used their expanded political power to “nibble around the edges” at issues and failed to go far enough.
See what you think of what he said on this week’s “Inside Iowa Politics.”
She’s Running, Too (almost…) — Governor Reynolds didn’t leave many doubts about her future after I asked her whether she thought President Donald Trump would endorse her gubernatorial campaign. Two things to watch in this video: How she describes her relationship with Trump and then how she says what her campaign (which she hasn’t yet announced) will include. Watch that video here.
Dismissed by DOGE — Logan Conner and Terri Wollenberg among the Iowans fired by Elon Musk/Trump administration. Conner worked at a USDA federal lab in Ames and assisted with agricultural research. Wollenberg served in the military and worked the Cedar Rapids Vet Center.
We don’t yet know how cuts like these will impact agriculture or services for veterans. I’m also curious if all federal employees who are getting fired are getting messages from Musk’s group that cite their “performance” and how that plays out in their lawsuits.
Watch my video with both of these Iowans about what happened during the “Valentines’ Day Massacre.”
DOGE, Part 2 — How federal funding freezes and program cuts by Musk (approved by Trump?) impact agriculture have been a major emphasis in conversations that I have had over the past few weeks for my podcast/newsletter with American Farmland Owner.
I talked with Danny Thomas, a well-known farmland broker and investor in Australia (
(Side note: Technology is amazing. I was freezing in Iowa while he sat in his car in Melbourne where it was about 100 degrees during our conversation via Zoom!)
Thomas expressed faith in Trump that the administration’s chaotic actions early will eventually lead to positive results. Watch that conversation here.
Mark McHargue has faith, too, but also has some personal angst. McHargue is the president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau and spent six figures on a project on his family farm. He expected partial reimbursement from federal programs that assist with conservation improvements. He now has to wait to find out whether a federal funding freeze delays his payment or means he may not ever get some/all of it.
Finally, there’s Peter Goldsmith. He has the most at stake right now and the least confidence of the three in what Trump and Musk are doing. Goldsmith led the Soybean Innovation Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, part of a network of 19 research labs in 17 states.
Goldsmith found out his funding through USAID got cut off, which meant that he and his entire staff were out of a job. He explained to me why this decision didn’t just mean job cuts: it also likely means the end of this commitment to bringing opportunities to struggling families in Africa and reduced research and markets for American producers.
One Final Thing — Good to see my former TV colleague and fellow confused St. Louis Cardinals fan, Jim Hibbs, still using his TV skills in his role as a Des Moines area realtor.
He combined his on-camera ability, power tools’ talent and determination to overcome frozen ground to get the job done. Way to go, Hibby! Check his work here.
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Why am I writing about people losing their jobs with the federal government and farmers and non-profit organizations worried that they may not get the federal funding support that they expected?