Reynolds, Bird cheer Trump; Lawmakers act on education and DEI

March 24 edition of "KHOI's Capitol Week"

Governor Kim Reynolds praises President Donald Trump’s executive order dismantling the U.S. Department of Education during a March 20, 2025 appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program. Screenshot from video posted on Reynolds’ political Facebook page

I had a wonderful road trip last week in southeast Iowa. It was my first visit to Burlington, and I will definitely be back! So much history. The Hawk Eye covered my event at the public library. I also spoke to groups in Davenport and Ottumwa.

Last Wednesday, I attended the Celebration of Life for Jim Leach at Hancher Auditorium. I plan to cover some highlights from these tributes, but you may want to watch the whole video here.

The Iowa House and Senate were busy while I was away. Fortunately, floor debates are live-streamed and archived, so I was able to either listen live or catch up later. There were some wild happenings. Spencer Dirks and I got through as much as we could during our March 24 show, but we had to save a few legislative stories for next week.

The audio file from our latest show is embedded above, or you can find “KHOI’s Capitol Week” on any podcast platform or smart speaker. The full archive (going back to February 2021) is available on KHOI’s website.

Governor cheers dismantling of U.S. Department of Education

We started with Iowa angles on Trump administration news. Governor Kim Reynolds was in Washington, DC last Thursday to cheer on the president as he signed an executive order calling for Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take "all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states."

Reynolds praised the move on her social media accounts, in a guest commentary for The Hill, and in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

The governor is assuming the federal government will provide the same amount of education funding to Iowa, giving the state government more flexibility on how to use it. I am not confident federal funding will stay at current levels. Republicans in Congress are looking for ways to cut domestic spending.

Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst and Iowa State Education Association president Joshua Brown both criticized the move. Konfrst said Iowans can’t trust Reynolds and Republican lawmakers on their education priorities. If the federal government does provide education funds as a block grant to the states, I wonder whether Iowa will use a portion to cover the cost of school vouchers. That could result in public school districts receiving hundreds of millions of dollars less than they do now.

Brown highlighted the threats to kids’ educational opportunities, calling the federal agency “a critical advocate for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination and ensuring every student has access to an education that will help them succeed.” McMahon has already done away with most of the department’s civil rights enforcement personnel. That makes me wonder who will enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires schools to make accommodations for students with disabilities.

As you may recall, Attorney General Brenna Bird signed on to a multi-state lawsuit last year that could undermine Section 504 protections in many areas.

Angry crowds show up for Grassley town halls

Senator Chuck Grassley tends to hold his town hall meetings in red areas, which usually means he draws a mostly-friendly audience. That didn’t happen last week, as Iowans turned up in large numbers to Grassley’s events in Dysart (Tama County) and Hampton (Franklin County). Many people were upset about the failure of Republicans in Congress to speak out against abuses of power by Trump and Elon Musk, including mass firings and cancellation of authorized spending and program.

I got a kick out of Ruby McAllister’s coverage of the Dysart town hall for the North Tama Telegraph. Excerpt:

Grassley also remarked, “Because you mentioned Musk, I want to make it very clear that Musk has no power,” – a comment that instantly drew loud, booming laughter from many in the audience.

“Musk has no power and I say that from a Constitutional point of view,” Grassley said above the din.

“Then what’s he doing in our White House?” a member of the audience interjected.

The crowd in Hampton was equally skeptical about the senator’s statements. Read more about that in Tom Barton’s story for the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson (IA-02) has said she will continue to hold more in-person town hall meetings, but she hasn’t done so lately.

Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01) hasn’t done an in-person town hall for a very long time. I expect her to continue to hold telephone town halls, where staff control the microphone and can screen out unwanted questions or audience reaction.

Miller-Meeks sticks close to Trump

Since we didn’t have time to get to it on last week’s show, I wanted to flag my recent reporting on how Miller-Meeks is clinging to Trump as she prepares to face a MAGA Republican primary challenger.

I have wanted the video of Miller-Meeks trying to get close to Trump after his address to Congress at least a dozen times, and it still makes me laugh. She is trying so hard to say something to him, but he doesn’t acknowledge her at all. Nevertheless, afterwards she repeatedly said she was honored to “personally” greet the president in the chamber. She has also joined the House “DOGE” caucus, presumably hoping to win Musk’s favor.

We didn’t dwell on this during the show, but it is astonishing to see how much Miller-Meeks (a medical doctor who heavily promoted vaccinations in 2021) now panders to vaccine skeptics.

As I’ve mentioned before, 2026 is shaping up to be a fascinating year for Iowa GOP primaries. Reynolds has worked hard to shore up her relationship with Trump ahead of what could be a challenging primary against former State Representative Brad Sherman. Senator Joni Ernst, who led the creation of the Senate DOGE caucus, will likely face at least one challenger (Joshua “You suck, Joni!” Smith) and maybe also former State Senator Jim Carlin.

Bird backs Trump on deportations to El Salvador

Iowa’s attorney general was an early endorser of Trump’s 2024 presidential bid, and she continues to provide cover for his actions. Last week, Bird signed Iowa on to a brief including about two dozen Republican states, which urged the U.S. Court of Appeals to “allow President Trump to continue deporting the ruthless Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua” to a prison in El Salvador. You can read the brief here.

In a written statement, Bird said,

“America is not a refuge for noncitizen, terrorist thugs,” said Attorney General Bird. “These animals in our country, like the gangster who murdered Laken Riley, are enemies who should be immediately deported—never to walk our streets again. I’m calling on the court to let President Trump continue Making America Safe Again by deporting terrorist Tren De Aragua gangsters.”

There are so many questions about these deportations. It’s not clear the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 can be invoked against members of a criminal gang, as opposed to a foreign country “invading” the U.S. On the Strict Scrutiny podcast, Kate Shaw questioned whether it’s correct to call it a “deportation” when people are being removed not to their home country, but to a third country’s prison.

I sought comment from the AG’s office last week on whether Bird believes the accused deserve any due process. Is she certain all of them are members of the Venezuelan gang? According to numerous media accounts, some have no criminal records and may have been detained and removed primarily because they have a certain kind of tattoo. Bird’s spokesperson did not respond.

Some people have asked me what the Iowa Attorney General’s office is going to do with the new lawyers Bird hired to work on lawsuits challenging Biden administration policies. We have part of our answer here: she’s going to federal court to defend Trump’s policies.

Trump administration drops challenge to Iowa immigration law

I wanted to make time for a story we didn’t manage to cover last week. Earlier this month, the Justice Department dismissed its lawsuit against Iowa’s Senate File 2340, a law that would create a new state crime of “illegal re-entry.” The Biden administration challenged the law last year, saying it unconstitutionally intruded on the federal government’s authority to regulate immigration.

The U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Iowa put the law on hold, and in January, an Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld that injunction, keeping Iowa from enforcing the law.

But the Eighth Circuit dismissed a separate lawsuit filed by the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and two foreign nationally living in Iowa legally. That suit challenged Senate File 2340 using the same constitutional arguments, and the Eighth Circuit found it moot, since the law was already blocked due to the federal government’s lawsuit.

Now that the Trump administration has dropped its challenge, the plaintiffs in the other case have filed a petition for rehearing with the Eighth Circuit. They argue the case is certainly not moot now that the federal government is no longer seeking to enjoin the Iowa law. I don’t know when the Eighth Circuit will rule on that petition.

State legislative news

We did our best to cover the most important bills approved in either the Iowa House or Senate last week.

Still no school funding bill

Lawmakers still haven’t approved a K-12 school funding bill, which should have been enacted by mid-February. School districts have to finalize their budgets by April 15, and state funding per pupil is the biggest source of funds. House and Senate leaders continue to negotiate with the governor’s representatives. The governor and Senate Republicans want to increase state spending per pupil by 2 percent, while House Republicans want 2.25 percent plus some one-time spending.

Democrats say either funding level is inadequate for schools, which need at least a 5 percent increase in state funding to maintain current staff and programs.

Governor’s bill on cell phones advances

Both chambers have approved versions of the governor’s proposal to restrict the use of cell phones during instructional time at school (House File 782). The House passed the bill last week by 88 votes to nine; all the no votes came from Democrats. When the Senate debated the bill on Monday of this week, Democratic State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott offered an amendment that would make the bill apply to private schools as well as public ones. Senators rejected that on a mostly party-line vote (Republican Charlie McClintock joined Democrats to support the amendment). The full Senate then approved the bill unanimously.

I need to correct one thing from the show: we said the bill is headed to the governor’s desk, but the Iowa Senate changed the enactment date. That means House members will need to approve the amended version before it goes to the governor.

Governor’s bill on math education

Last week, the House approved a version of the governor’s math education bill (House File 784). Fifteen Democrats and Republican Brian Lohse voted against the measure, largely because it would be another unfunded mandate on public schools. Democratic State Representative Monica Kurth—herself a former math teacher—also raised a concern that the extra testing (every other week for low-performing students) could be counterproductive.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

Iowa House Republicans really have a problem with DEI. The chamber approved several new restrictions last week. We summarized the most significant ones.

Most of the anti-DEI bills passed largely along party lines, with a few Republicans joining Democrats to oppose some of them.

House File 856 is extraordinary in scope. It started out as a ban on DEI offices or personnel in state and local governments. An amendment added provisions from other bills, which would prohibit Iowa community colleges from spending money on DEI efforts, and make students at private colleges ineligible for the Iowa Tuition Grant if the private institution has a DEI office or staff.

Many Democrats spoke against the bill. State Representative Rob Johnson said, “To dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion is dismantling the progress that we have made as a state.”

Leader Konfrst said the bill would punish students who need the Iowa Tuition Grant because the majority party doesn’t agree with the political opinions of a college or university. She pointed out that Republicans would lose their minds if Democrats tried to take the grant away from students attending a private college that teaches Christianity.

State Representative Megan Srinivas, a medical doctor, warned that the bill could cause problems with the University of Iowa’s medical school accreditation. She explained how important it is for doctors to understand that they may need to adjust testing or treatment plans based on patients’ characteristics (race, ethnic background, religion, veteran status, etc).

State Representative J.D. Scholten worried that people could file complaints to the Attorney General’s office just because they dislike a rival school, or to prevent a rival school from recruiting an athlete with the promise of Iowa Tuition Grant support.

State Representative Heather Matson talked about successful DEI programs in the Ankeny School District and said this could cost public schools some grants. 

The House debate also became contentious because the floor manager, Henry Stone, repeatedly refused to yield to questions from Democrats. That is extremely unusual. He complained during his closing remarks that Democrats hadn’t approached him with their concerns before the debate.

Listening to the debate, I felt that House members were talking past each other. Republicans were throwing out caricatures of DEI, as when Stone claimed it destroys the country “when you teach our kids to go through life looking at everything through the lens of color.” That’s not what DEI programs are about.

House File 269 would ban Iowa’s state universities from requiring students to take a class involving DEI or “critical race theory.”

House File 295 would let Iowa institutions sue accrediting agencies if they lost their accreditation for "refusing to violate" a state law on DEI.

House File 437 would create a Center for Intellectual Freedom at the University of Iowa. Democrats warned this is basically an unfunded mandate for the university (costing an estimated $1.5 million a year) and was grounded in ideology. To me, it sounds like DEI for conservatives.

Some of these bills don’t have companions in the Iowa Senate, but the upper chamber does have a bill on the Center for Intellectual Freedom and today (March 25) approved a ban on DEI in local governments. I expect some of this policy will be caught up in late-session negotiations between House and Senate leaders.

Extracurricular activities for private school students

All of the above happened in the Iowa House last Tuesday, but there was more controversial education policy to come on Wednesday. House File 189 would force public school districts to allow private school students to compete on their teams. 

This was another wacky debate where the floor manager (Stone again) refused to yield to questions. This, time he complained that Matson kept asking him for a list of school districts that weren’t allowing private school students to play sports. He said in effect, it’s not my job to do your research for you, and indicated Matson could have emailed all of the private high schools and public school districts herself.

Democrats argued that school districts should be able to prioritize their own students and decisions to attend private school may have consequences, like not getting to do every activity you want.

Although sports was the main motivation for the bill, its provisions would apply to other extracurricular activities like band or show choir.

Bill would change school lunch nutrition standards

There was also a heated debate over House File 851, which “directs the Iowa Department of Education to apply for a waiver to exempt the state from federal school meal programs.” Iowa school meals would prioritize meat, fish, dairy, eggs, and fresh fruits and vegetables.

The floor manager, State Representative Derek Wulf, said it would make sure Iowa students "understand the benefits of a well-balanced diet.” Democratic State Representative Austin Baeth pointed out that school nutritionists do not want this bill. He said it would make Iowa children into “guinea pigs.”

Democratic State Representative Sami Scheetz warned this bill could jeopardize around $160 million in federal funds that support school lunches, if the federal government doesn’t grant Iowa the waiver. (Republicans seem confident they will grant the waiver request.) Scholten objected to how the bill would change the definition of local food in Iowa Code so that mass-produced food from international conglomerates would qualify.

There is a companion bill in the Iowa Senate, so I think this one may get to the governor, even though the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association is the only group registered in favor of it.

Changing the definition of school bullying

There were so many education bills on the floor last week! We had time for one more: on a mostly party-line vote, the House approved House File 865, which “would change the definition of school bullying in state law and remove a list of traits a bully might target, such as a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and disability status.”

The Republican floor manager, Helena Hayes, said she believed changing the law would reduce confusion for school staff, making clear that students can be bullied over anything. (The current law isn’t exclusive to that list—it says bulling includes but is not limited to those characteristics.)

Democrats warned vulnerable kids will be harmed. State Representative Josh Turek spoke about the bullying he experienced as a child who used a wheelchair, saying he switched to a private school for several years because the bullying was so bad. He worried this change would hurt disabled kids, because a school wouldn’t recognize bullying unless it was repeated behavior.

New rules for county supervisor elections—but only in three counties

Republicans in both chambers finally achieved a years-long goal: requiring Johnson, Story, and Black Hawk counties to elect supervisors by district, rather than in at-large, county-wide elections. Senate File 75 passed along mostly party lines. The obvious goal is to help Republicans win a seat or two in blue counties. Otherwise the majority would apply the same standard to counties like Woodbury, Scott, Dubuque, and Pottawattamie, which have comparable populations but GOP-dominated boards of supervisors.

Naturally, the advocates for the bill (including Story County’s State Representative Brett Barker and State Senator Kara Warme) denied having a partisan intention. They said college students don’t live in the county year-round, and that rural residents have different concerns (such as secondary roads) that don’t get a hearing in a county-wide election dominated by a college town.

I’m not convinced this will accomplish what Republicans want. Clearly they have a good chance of electing a Republican to the Story County district covering a large area outside Ames. But State Senator Herman Quirmbach (who represents Ames) argued during the Senate debate that having two Ames-based districts could cement a Democratic majority on the three-member Story County board for some time.

John Deeth, who has worked in the Johnson County Elections Office for many years, has been skeptical districts could be drawn to help a Republican win one of that county’s five seats. It’s also possible this law could help Democrats keep at least three of the five seats on the Black Hawk board, because of the population concentrated in Waterloo and Cedar Falls.

House approves “smuggling” bill again

Last year, House members approved a bill creating a new crime of “smuggling.” The Senate didn’t take it up, so State Representative Steven Holt is back with a new version. House File 572 makes it a crime to “knowingly, for payment or anything of value,” transport or conceal a person “in violation of immigration laws.”

An amendment tightened up the language to address concerns that volunteers or religious organizations could be charged for taking an undocumented immigrant to a medical appointment or court hearing. Even so, twelve Democrats and two Republicans (Michael Bergan and David Blom) voted against final passage.

Last-minute amendment targets local government contracts requiring apprenticeship training

It happens every year: what appears to be an uncontroversial bill is amended on the floor to include provisions that are unacceptable to Democrats. We saw the first example from 2025 when the House took up Senate File 603 last Tuesday.

Senators had passed this workforce training bill unanimously. But Republican State Representative Bobby Kaufmann offered an amendment that made a huge change. As Zachary Oren Smith reported for Iowa Starting Line, “The bill prevents cities, counties, and school districts from considering whether contractors have established training programs when awarding development projects, including those seeking millions in tax incentives.”

Kaufmann said the bill was designed to prevent the city of Des Moines from requiring bidders to have unionized employees. Several lawmakers pointed out that unions aren’t the only entities with apprenticeship programs; some school districts and community colleges do as well. Requiring more training is a way to guarantee higher quality work and safety on job sites. State Representative Larry McBurney and State Senator Matt Blake, both Democrats who previously served on the Urbandale City Council, referred to substandard work done by a low-bid contractor on a fire station.

Republican David Blom joined Democrats to vote against the amended workforce bill in the House. The Senate took it up less than 24 hours later, with the same last-minute amendment. This time Republican State Senator Charlie McClintock, who has often taken labor unions’ concerns seriously, ran an amendment against his own party’s bill. That is extremely rare. McClintock and fellow Republican Mike Pike of Des Moines joined Democrats to support the amendment (which failed). McClintock and Pike then joined Democrats to vote against final passage of the bill.

Senate rejects attempt to force a vote on eminent domain

I had to get to one more rare occurrence during last week’s debate. When the Senate took up a rules package on Tuesday, Democratic State Senator Tony Bisignano offered an amendment that would have allowed a majority of senators to force a floor vote on a bill. He said it was the “last bus out of here” for those who want the Iowa Senate to debate eminent domain, CO2 pipelines, private property rights, or “whatever you want to call it.”

Four Republicans ended up voting with all Democrats for the Bisignano amendment, but that wasn’t enough to pass. 

Twelve Iowa Senate Republicans have joined legal efforts to block the Summit Carbon Solutions CO2 pipeline, but eight of them voted against the Democratic amendment to the rules package. I sought comment from all of them and received answers from six. They gave different reasons. Some said they were negotiating internally with Republican leaders to get an eminent domain bill to the floor. Some questioned whether Democrats were sincere about this issue. Senator Dennis Guth said if he had it to do over again he might vote the other way.

I’m working on a Bleeding Heartland post about this.

House member authorizes extremist Christian pamphlet

We had less than a minute to discuss the way-out-there “Bible Study” distributed to all Iowa House members last week. State Representative Brett Barker signed off on the document, produced by Capitol Ministries, which denounced the LGBTQ movement, “women’s liberation,” Islam, and “false Christians,” among others.

Barker told me he hadn’t read the pamphlet before signing, and called it a “rookie mistake.” I wrote more about that story over the weekend. I learned later that on Monday of this week, first-term GOP Senator Pike authorized the distribution of the same document to all members of the Iowa Senate.

Thanks for reading or listening! I’ve got more legislative coverage in the works for later this week.