House speaker drama, big CO2 pipeline news, and more

Oct. 23 "Capitol Week" is online

“You cannot make this stuff up,” Dennis said during our latest show.

As with so many political developments in the Donald Trump era, the inability of U.S. House Republicans to elect a new speaker would seem farfetched in a work of fiction. Yet here we are, three weeks into the drama and no immediate end in sight. Congressional coverage isn’t normally my favorite beat, but I’ve been mesmerized by this train wreck and how Iowa’s House members are coping.

A quick reminder before I recap this week’s episode: the incomparable Julie Gammack is organizing a holiday party for anyone who is a paying subscriber to any Iowa Writers Collaborative columnist. That event is scheduled for Thursday, December 7, from 5-6:30 p.m., at the former governor’s mansion (Witmer House), 2900 Grand in Des Moines.

If you have supported my work financially—either through Substack or by some other means (credit card, PayPal, Patreon, Venmo, or personal check)—and you would like to attend the party, please let me know and I will send you a registration form.

On to the October 23 edition of “Capitol Week”! Remember, you can listen to all past episodes on KHOI Radio’s website.

Topics we covered:

• President Joe Biden went to Israel last week. He’s more popular among Israelis than Americans, according to recent opinion polls. Senator Chuck Grassley doesn’t allow me to participate in his regular conference calls with Iowa reporters, but the Des Moines Register’s Stephen Gruber-Miller quoted him as praising Biden’s “very strong” speech to Israelis. Grassley also supports the deployment of U.S. aircraft carriers to the region;

• Governor Kim Reynolds joined Jewish community leaders last week at the rededication of the Holocaust memorial near the state capitol. Reynolds ordered the capitol building to be lit in blue to express Iowa’s support for Israel;

• We spent several minutes discussing the House speaker fiasco, but we didn’t have time to talk about all of the interesting angles. At Bleeding Heartland I delved into the strategies deployed by U.S. Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Ashley Hinson, Zach Nunn, and Randy Feenstra;

• As you’ve probably heard, Hinson, Nunn, and Feenstra voted for Jim Jordan on all three ballots last week. Miller-Meeks voted for Jordan on the first ballot but then voted against him twice;

• Miller-Meeks wasn’t the only House Republican to receive threatening calls after opposing Jordan. It’s important to acknowledge that threats of violence have become more prevalent in U.S. politics over the last decade—not only against members of Congress, but targeting people in all kinds of roles, from poll workers to librarians to school board members;

• Another sign of the times: all but two of the candidates for House speaker voted against certifying the 2020 electoral vote count. The two who didn’t (Representatives Tom Emmer and Austin Scott) were also election deniers, in the sense that they signed on to an amicus brief in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to throw out presidential results from four Biden states;

• This House speaker stalemate could not have happened at any other point in our lifetimes. Some of the big picture factors driving the dynamic: most of the GOP caucus would be in more danger of losing a primary than a general election, legislative work is less important to members than it used to be, and Republicans who stand up to leadership now have other sources of power and fundraising (conservative tv networks, podcasts, social media);

• Moving to Iowa caucus news, Senator Tim Scott is betting it all on Iowa, a tried-and-true tactic for long shot presidential candidates. Dennis and I don’t see any opening for Scott with the evangelical voters he is courting, but hope dies last;

• Trump’s lead in the Iowa poll averages is as high as ever, but seven other GOP presidential candidates showed up at a campaign fundraiser for Miller-Meeks last Friday. Scott floated an obviously unconstitutional idea: yanking Pell grants from universities that allow pro-Palestinian protests;

• Speaking of grotesque ideas that are gaining traction in GOP circles, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continues to emphasize that he would not allow any refugees from Gaza to enter the U.S.;

• Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has highlighted her foreign policy experience throughout the campaign, and during the latest crisis has talked about the threat posed by Iran and other hostile states;

• Vivek Ramaswamy warned that a ground invasion of Gaza would not be good for Israel or the U.S. I avoid editorializing during our radio show, but I share Thomas Friedman’s fear that “Israel is about to make a terrible mistake”;

• We didn’t get into the details of last Friday’s remarks by Doug Burgum, Asa Hutchinson, and Ryan Binkley, but you can read about those at Iowa Capital Dispatch or the Des Moines Register;

• Speaking of long shots, Perry Johnson suspended his presidential campaign last Friday. I always felt he was just auditioning for a cabinet position in the next Trump administration, and indeed he did endorse Trump on Monday;

• A new Grinnell College National Poll by Selzer & Co shows Trump and Biden tied at 40 percent, with 18 percent of respondents saying they would vote for someone else. Polls almost always overstate support for third-party candidates. Respondents use that option to express their dissatisfaction with the major-party nominees, but most don’t actually vote for candidates with no chance of winning;

• Dennis and I didn’t have time to discuss the carbon dioxide pipelines on recent programs, but we made time this week because there were several huge developments in this area. First, Navigator CO2 pulled the plug on its planned pipeline. Some observers expect Navigator’s partners to sign on with Summit Carbon Solutions;

• After some setbacks in North and South Dakota, Summit Carbon is pushing back the timetable for its CO2 pipeline. The company now expects the project to be completed in 2026, not 2024;

• We also talked about some pipeline news that didn’t get much attention last week. Three Iowans filed a lawsuit seeking to vacate a water permit the Iowa Department of Natural Resources granted to an LLC linked to Summit Carbon. Bleeding Heartland guest author Nancy Dugan has done some great sleuthing on these water permits, which are crucial for carbon capture facilities. I highly recommend that you read her latest article for more details on the lawsuit, as well as her earlier reporting on the network of Summit-linked LLCs and the massive amounts of water they would need to use;

• Democrat Sarah Corkery launched her campaign last week in Iowa’s second Congressional district, and Ashley Hinson’s campaign responded quite aggressively. I haven’t finished my Bleeding Heartland post sizing up this race, but Tom Barton reported on Corkery for the Cedar Rapids Gazette, and Stephen Gruber-Miller did for the Des Moines Register.

Thank you for reading or listening! It’s a privilege to be able to do this show, and Dennis and I enjoy working together.

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Welcome to Nicole Baart and Arnold Garson, the newest members of the Iowa Writers Collaborative:

Nicole Baart: This Stays Here, Sioux Center

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

Steph Copley: It Was Never a Dress, Johnston

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake

Suzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji

Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts, Okoboji and Sioux Falls

Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines

Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilia

Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines

Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo

Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Letters from Iowans, Iowa

Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa

Alison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities

Kurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar

Wini Moranville, Wini’s Food Stories, Des Moines

Jeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers, Cedar Rapids

Kyle Munson, Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines

Jane Nguyen, The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines

John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines

Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines

Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.

Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des Moines

Macey Spensley: The Midwest Creative, Iowa

Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona

Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines

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