The First 100 Days

Once again, I have written much more than I had intended, and I hope you take the time to read it all. So much has happened in the past 3 months and I feel like it is necessary to touch on many of these topics. Please feel free to weigh in on anything I have missed. If there have been comments by members of Congress on the topics I mention that I have not seen, please provide them.

I invite civil, bipartisan discussion on this post.

With the whirlwind of unprecedented activity from the Executive Branch, I find it extremely difficult to believe that the only issue the entire Iowa delegation to Congress has is Senator Grassley wanting to bring tariff authority back to Congress.

On their websites, you can see what my members of Congress have to say about their first 100 days:

Blog – Congressman Zach Nunn

Q&A: First 100 Days

Ernst Delivers for Iowans in First 100 D… | U.S. Senator Joni Ernst

As I mentioned in a previous post, The Presidency does not exist in a vacuum. In other words, Congress retains a large degree of power and influence in America, per the United States Constitution. As we are nearing the 100 day mark of the second Trump Administration, I want to look at some of the major changes this administration has made and see how those who represent me have responded.

One of the first actions by Donald Trump was to put Elon Musk in a “new” position in government called DOGE. Through this new Department of Government Efficiency, the federal government has chosen to bypass Congress and implement sweeping cuts to the congressionally approved spending. These cuts include: cutting assistance for Veterans Affairs, school lunches, FEMA, USAID, medical research spending, funding to Universities, park rangers, and more. As congress approved this spending, I would expect some resistance from congress as we cut vital programs across the country. However, each person who represents me has fallen in line and praised the administration for “cutting waste, fraud and abuse”. I am 100% in favor of fiscal responsibility but this is not fraud, waste, or abuse and these cuts are not being made with a scalpel.

Congressional Republicans from Iowa are cheering on the decimation of congressional spending authority.

As we have seen most recently with a man from Maryland who was deported to El Salvador, the Trump administration has chosen to ignore due process. They admitted this was an administrative error and the man should not have been deported, however, they refuse to make any attempt at bringing him home and continue to declare he, and others deported, are violent gang members. Maybe they are, I don’t know, and the reason I don’t know is because the administration refuses to present their evidence in court to have the merits of each case determined by due process in a court of law. Once again, I would hope to see my congress members speak up and speak loudly in defense of the rule of law, especially as they have campaigned for years on being a party of law and order. However, we see the entire delegation from Iowa tout the work the administration is doing to stop illegal immigration, despite obviously deporting people without giving them constitutionally required due process.

Congressional Republicans from Iowa are cheering on the erosion of due process in America.

Several times recently, Donald Trump has spoken about the idea of deporting American citizens, saying he “loved the idea” and also telling President Bukele “Home-growns are next. The home-growns. You gotta build about five more places.” At the same time, a Trump advisor (Sebastian Gorka) is saying those who criticize deportations are “aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists”. This rhetoric serves to normalize the possibility of imprisoning American citizens for speaking up on behalf of due process.

Looking through the news, and the various webpages of my congress members, I do not see a single one of them speaking up against the idea of deporting American citizens.

President Trump has initiated the single largest trade war in recent history. Despite saying repeatedly that he would never back down or change policy, he has reversed policy and pulled back tariffs on almost every country (to 10%) except China. As we see China refusing to give in, they have introduced their own tariffs and are now withholding critical rare earth materials and has effectively cut off a major export market for farmers and businesses across the country. The constant changes in trade policy create significant uncertainty for American businesses and consumers, making it hard to plan and operate a successful business.

While Joni Ernst, Zach Nunn, and Chuck Grassley all tout support for farmers and businesses, only Chuck Grassley has taken any steps to stop these tariffs from disrupting the American economy.

Numerous members of the Trump Administration have attacked the decisions of the judiciary. Trump himself has called for judges to be impeached, J.D. Vance has stated that courts don’t have the authority to control the Executive, and we now see the Department of Justice refusing to comply with court orders regarding deportations.

Senator Grassley has said he expects Donald Trump to follow judicial rulings, but he also seems to continually defer to Trump’s authority, including sponsoring the bill to revoke authority of judges, and did not complain during his town hall when pressed on the administration stonewalling judges over the issue of deportations. Senator Ernst and Zach Nunn have not issued any statements that I have seen regarding the Administration respecting the Judicial Branch of government.

President Trump and members of his administration have been talking about taking control of other countries – and these countries are our allies! Donald Trump has threatened to annex Greenland, talked about taking over Canada as the 51^st state, said we would not rule out the use of force in Panama, and reportedly is mulling drone strikes in Mexico. These four countries are allies of the United States of America.

If Zach Nunn, Joni Ernst, and Chuck Grassley have made any clear positions on believing we should not invade our allies, I have not heard them.

In addition to targeting international university students’ freedom of speech, the administration has also specifically attacked the funding of colleges throughout the United States. Over fifty universities are being investigated or having funding withheld for promoting DEI policies or for allowing their students their constitutionally permitted right to free speech. This funding has been approved by Congress, and we should be promoting the independence of our Universities.

In their comments on their first 100 days, none of Chuck Grassley, Zach Nunn, or Joni Ernst have spoken out against these harmful policies directed at our Universities.

With Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in mind, I will take a moment to discuss these policies as well. People who complain about DEI policies typically argue that we are hiring people who are not qualified for the jobs they have applied and that they are taking jobs away from straight white men who are. I specify white men here as they are specifically the people who are typically not mentioned when people complain on this topic. Strictly speaking, it is true that implementing DEI policies leads to hiring people from diverse groups: women, people of color, immigrants, and people of different sexual identities. While it may be true in some cases that we ultimately hire someone who is less qualified to improve DEI metrics, overall this is not the case. Instead, DEI policies largely bring more people into the pool of applicants and we hire the most qualified individual from the larger group. Legally, this must be done without regard to protected characteristics.

For this post, I don’t actually want to debate the value and implementation of DEI policies, but rather to look at what has happened under this administration’s push to rid the government of DEI policies. We are removing all references to diversity in the history of the United States – the history of Jackie Robinson has been removed from federal websites. Education programs about the history of women and people of color have been removed from military websites. The history of Navajo code talkers has been taken down. Photos of war heroes are being removed because they are women or people of color. This is erasing the history of America.

I have not heard a single comment from Joni Ernst, Chuck Grassley, or Zach Nunn demanding we respect people of diverse backgrounds.

Freedom of speech and the press is a key right in any democracy. As such, it is enshrined in our law as the first amendment to the United States Constitution. Despite this key freedom, President Trump and his allies have been attacking this fundamental American right for years, ramping up their attacks since his return to the White House. Most recently, President Trump has attacked 60 minutes for criticizing his repeated comments on Greenland, but he has also taken control of who is allowed to join the White House Press Pool and has been threatening to remove FCC licenses of networks who oppose him.

Senators Grassley and Ernst along with Representative Nunn have not spoken out on any occasion against the threats towards the free press or freedom of speech.

I encourage each and every one of you to visit the website of your members of Congress. See how they are speaking about the first 100 days of this administration; it certainly seems the three people who represent me are more than happy to go along for the ride.

Contact information for the Iowa Congressional Delegation:

Chuck Grassley – (515) 288-1145
Joni Ernst – (515) 284-4574
Marionette Miller-Meeks (563)-232-0930
Ashley Hinson – (319)-364-2288
Zach Nunn – (515)-400-8180

Thank you.

Sources:

USDA ends programs that help schools and food banks buy locally-grown food | Iowa Public Radio

Internal VA Memo Shows 80,000 Veterans Affairs Jobs to Be Cut: Impact on Veteran Care

What the firings at FEMA could mean for disaster response : NPR

Over 80% of USAID programmes ‘officially ending’

Beyond Ivy League, RFK Jr.’s NIH slashed science funding across states that backed Trump – CBS News

How DOGE cuts are jeopardizing our national parks, “America’s best idea” – CBS News

A look at the universities with federal funding targeted by the Trump administration | AP News

Supreme Court ruling on Alien Enemies Act raises new due process concerns for migrants | CNN Politics

Court denies White House appeal of ‘shocking’ Abrego Garcia deportation case : NPR

‘Homegrowns are next’: Trump doubles down on sending American ‘criminals’ to foreign prisons – ABC News