Iowa Wants To Know: “Where Is Congress?”

Chuck Grassley says it’s standing down and standing by. Me, I didn’t know there were that many Democrats in Iowa:

Iowans’ anger over funding cuts and mass firings of federal employees led by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash the federal government boiled over during a raucous town hall Friday hosted by Republican Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley.

The town hall drew a crowd of about 150 Iowans, who packed a small courtroom inside the Franklin County Courthouse in Hampton, quickly reaching the room’s capacity. Dozens were turned away as a line wound from the second-story courtroom down the stairs to the courthouse atrium and out the door into the parking lot.

Chanting from individuals gathered outside in the parking could be heard as Grassley fielded questions from an agitated crowd during the town hall.

“My question, which I think is on our minds here, is where is Congress?” a speaker at the town hall said of Musk and Trump circumventing Congress by signing executive orders canceling funding approved by lawmakers and dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. The question was met with cheers from the audience.

Grassley remained poised, stood stern and calmly addressed each speaker directly as others in the crowd interjected and shouted.

Could Grassley hear them? Did he know where he was?

Serious questions. I’m almost 70; I’m allowed. I also know whereof I speak.

Speakers raised concerns over Musk's involvement to slash the federal government and potential conflicts of interest. Musk’s companies like Tesla and SpaceX have received billions in government contracts, with critics pointing out that Musk's companies might benefit from decisions made by DOGE, such as regulatory changes or budget cuts, targeting agencies that have previously investigated his businesses.

Others voiced concerns about Musk’s team having access to sensitive, private Social Security data without proper vetting, and likely violating the Constitution by shuttering the U.S. Agency for International Development, robbing Congress of its authority to oversee the dissolution of an agency it created.

“It’s your job” to provide oversight of the Trump administration, one man said to Grassley. “We are depending on you and the others to help save democracy.”

Grassley said: “The checks and balances of government are going to continue to work.”

See? They’re asking him: “WHERE ARE THE EFFIN’ CHECKS AND BALANCES??!!,” and he’s answering: “I’m right here.” No, I’m not making that up (well, I was, until I read on. Truth is stranger than fiction.):

Bill Brenny, of Sac City, said Trump “is dismantling our government,” disregarding court orders, bypassing Congress and flouting their authority. Brenny asked Grassley, as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, “Why do you believe that President Trump is above the law? And I'll just reinforce what other people have been saying here. Why have you not spoken out for it?”

Grassley replied that he has a track record of being available to journalists, publishing remarks he gives on the Senate floor and press releases on his website and meeting with Iowans in D.C. to communicate to voters in the state.

"I try to make myself very very available to the journalists, but if you don't read about it. … I put it out the best way I know to put it up," Grassley said.

🤦‍♂️ 

Why do you feel that President Trump is above the law?" Brenny pressed.

"He's not above the law," Grassley said, with yelling from attendees following.

“He is making us afraid to stand up for our own rights because we’re then going to be sent to El Salvador,” one woman said of her concerns of Trump’s clashes with judges.

“Judges’ rulings should be abided by,” Grassley replied, and at one point repeated: “Nobody’s above the law.”

“Prove it!” an attendee yelled back.

Answer came there none, as he communicated with voters in the state.

Grassley also compared Musk’s DOGE actions to what previous Democratic presidents have done to cut government. Many in the crowd loudly disagreed.

Communication is very important.

Grassley also said it would take an act of Congress to dissolve the DOE. But then he said: 

Grassley was booed when he pointed out he voted against creating the Department of Education in 1979 while serving in the U.S. House, and said he would vote to dismantle the department should it come before the Senate for a vote.

He said he believes the best education policies are made at the state level. Speaking to reporters after the town hall, Grassley echoed Trump, who blamed the department for America’s lagging academic performance and said states will do a better job.

But also, too, as well:

During the town hall, Grassley stressed the department will retain certain critical functions, including preserving its responsibilities for Title I funding for low-income schools, Pell grants and money for children with disabilities.

Trump said Friday the management of federal student loans will be transferred from the Department of Education to the Small Business Administration.

So Trump can’t dissolve the DOE, but he can disassemble it, kinda sorta? And Iowa still needs federal money for education, and the DOE will still administer it, except when…it doesn’t? Is Grassley actually aware of what Trump is doing? Sequestering funds and where he can’t, firing the people who administer those funds? Is that what he makes press releases about?

Bill Brenny and Margaret Smith, who lives in Hampton, said they’re glad Grassley is meeting with Iowans, but what the senator does next is important.

“What I wanted to bring out is this Department of Government Efficiency is unprecedented. It was not developed by an act of Congress, right?” Smith said. “It was just kind of appointed by President Trump, with no oversight and I think the way they're effecting cuts is ineffective. I propose that he put together a bipartisan group to look at government efficiency ... rather than the 2-year-old taking the pile of blocks and knocking them all over because they don't like them.”

Brenny said he felt Grassley was evasive “and pivoted oftentimes to different topics.”

He said he and many in Iowa want Grassley “to start representing us” and are “frustrated and angry.”

Well, Chuck let you yell at him. And  he told reporters “people are very concerned about a lot of issues that are going on in Washington, D.C." What else do ya want? Eggs in your beer? (A phrase I learned from an old Kansas boy. Probably heard in Iowa back in the day, too.) 🥚🍺

Meanwhile:

Miller-Meeks, a Republican from Ottumwa who also resides in Davenport and represents Southeast Iowa, has held town halls — in person or by telephone — every year since taking office in 2021.

“And will again do so in the future. She held a tele town hall with 12,000 Iowans last month,” a spokesperson for her office said a statement to The Gazette.

Her office said the congresswoman has been meeting with small businesses and veterans across the district, “hearing from many constituents as usual.”

“She does not stop working for the district and it is why she was elected to a third term,” the spokesperson said.

Not clear how anyone knows where to be when, though.

Miller-Meeks’ office did not share the congresswoman’s schedule for the week, stating they continue to “receive credible death threats.”

I guess the town halls are going well, then? 🤷🏻‍♂️ 

God bless local papers that don’t yet have paywalls.