Where Iowans in Congress Really Stand on Freedom and Democracy with Trump in the White House
The answer may surprise you, but at this point, it shouldn't
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The shameful and cowardly two-on-one mugging of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - a global hero of democracy - in the Oval Office by President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, was only the second most shameful, and cowardly thing that happened in Washington, D.C. this past week.
The most shameful and cowardly thing that happened last week in Washington, D.C. was the collective silence from Iowa’s congressional delegation in response to the Trump-Vance mugging of President Zelensky.
They. Said. Nothing.
Say the names of those who sat silent as an American president threw an American ally, a free democracy, and 38 million free Ukrainians under the bus in order to snuggle up ever closer to a brutal dictator Vladimir Putin. History will remember Trump for his betrayal and it will remember these Iowans for failing to stand up, speak up, and object to Trump’s betrayal:
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA).
Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-1st IA).
Representative Ashley Hinson (R-2nd IA).
Representative Zach Nunn (R-3rd - IA).
Representative Randy Feenstra (R-4th IA).
That is 100% of Iowa’s six member congressional delegation in Washington, D.C. This should not even be an issue, and their failure to speak out goes well beyond partisan politics. This is a measure of whether they are still on board with, and are willing to stand up for democracy. Like most of their party in Congress, sadly, they failed this test.
With Trump’s “made for TV” tough guy show in the Oval Office, America’s president made clear:
….who he answers to regarding the war in Ukraine: Putin.
….what his agenda is for Ukraine: Not peace but surrender.
….with whom he stands: not the victims of Putin’s agreesion, but with Putin and with Putin’s brutal aggression.
Yet there has not been a word from Iowans in Congress to let America’s Mugger-in-Chief know he is way out of line.
The old quote from the ancient Greek philosopher Plato comes to mind at a moment like this: “Silence gives consent.” Plato meant that failing to speak out against injustice is tantamount to condoning or accepting it.
Just so we’re clear, thanks to the Iowa delegation’s uniform silence on this, we now know - at least by Plato’s measure - the position Iowans in Congress take on the question of standing with freedom and democracy, a free Ukraine, or standing with a brutal Russian dictator.
Not every Republican has been silent like the Iowans.
Take Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), for example: “The week started with administration officials refusing to acknowledge that Russia started the war in Ukraine,” she wrote on X. “I know foreign policy is not for the faint of heart, but right now, I am sick to my stomach, as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and U.S. values aroud the world.”
No member of Iowa’s congressional delegation bothered to raise an eyebrow or even clear their throat in response to Trump’s shameful performance and his unilaterally declared U.S. position on Ukraine.
In response, the Republican Congress is doing its best imitation of a potted plant.
Not a word has come from Iowans in Congress to let Trump and Vance know their performance was an ugly betrayal of freedom and democracy, of millions of Ukrainians, and of our European allies, who will be next in line for Putin’s appetite for new territory.
Let’s be clear about this, too: Iowans in Congress are not idle, innocent by-standers in this moment of American ignominy. They are federal elected officials in their own right. They are members of a co-equal branch of government. They have a vote in the making of U.S. foreign policy. They are empowered by Iowans, specifically, to represent Iowa’s values in Washington and in the federal government with their voice and their votes.
I’m pretty sure that if Iowa’s congressional delegation will check, they’ll find most Iowans - the vast majority of Iowans - on the side of democracy and freedom and precious few on the side of dictatorship and military aggression.
Like fellow Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, Iowans in Congress should be objecting. Loudly.
They should be sick to their stomachs, too, appalled that a President of the United States would do what Trump has done, and would say what Trump has said. They should be shocked that he would throw a free, democratic ally under the bus in order to embrace the dictator Putin and his brutal military aggression.
I guess we should have seen this coming.
Senators Grassley and Ernst, and Representatives Miller-Meeks, Hinson, Nunn and Feenstra couldn’t even raise their voices days before to disagree with Trump when he described U.S. ally President Zelensky as a dictator; claimed that Ukraine brought on Putin’s invasion of that sovereign country; or that Putin ought to be able to keep the land he has so far stolen from Ukraine through naked, brutal military aggression. (Grassley did interrupt his metaphorical nap long enough to note that Putin was a dictator, after the “Zelensky is a dictator” nonsense from Trump, but somehow he managed not to mention Trump’s name and there was no direct defense of Zelensky from Grassley or anyone else in the Iowa delegation.
Iowans in Congress have a responsibility to speak up when they see a president going off the rails as recklessly and as dangerously as Trump is doing, yet they do not.
At the very least, they have an obligation to let the president know when he talks such utter and dangerous lunacy, that he does not speak for Iowans. Despite the fact that he carried the state in the 2024 election, Iowans did not vote to embrace Putin, Russia’s aggression, or the business of throwing free, democratic allies overboard, a move that will only imperial European democracies by further encouraging Putin’s military aggression.
As I look at the calendar on the wall, I see an interesting and telling crossroads approaching. Memorial Day is just three short months away.
Members of Iowa’s congressional delegation will no doubt be invited to speak at Memorial Day observances at cemeteries across the state on that day of remembrance - May 26, 2025. They will no doubt jump at the chance to do so, as they should. Our heroes deserve to be remembered and honored and Iowans in Congress should be part of that effort.
What will they say about the heroes being honored that day, heroes who sacrificed their very lives to defend freedom and democracy from aggressors, both here at home and around the globe?
More tellingly, what will members of Iowa’s congressional delegation say about the consent they just gave with their silence to an American president handing over an ally’s freedom and democracy to a brutal dictator in response to military aggression and deadly invasion?
My guess is they will honor the sacrifices made by the heroes on behalf of freedom and democracy, but they won’t mention their own still fresh betrayal of what those heroes fought and died to preserve.
Appeasers rarely brag about their appeasement.
Iowa’s “Silent Six” have chosen to stand with the bullies, the military aggressors, the invaders, and appeasers. That’s no place for America, and certainly no place for Iowans in Congress.
WEEKLY OVERDUE FARM BILL TRACKER - 518 DAYS: The number of days that have passed since the 2018 Farm Bill expired on September 30, 2023, without Congress passing a new one. (Total days as of Sunday, 03/02/2025).
Two thirds of Iowa’s congressional delegation serves on the U.S. House and Senate Agriculture Committees: Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) in the Senate; and Reps. Zach Nunn (R-3rd IA) and Randy Feenstra (R-4th) in the House and Representatives
The legislation sets national farm policy. It expired 518 days ago, and was last updated in 2018.
518 days without a new Farm Bill after the old one expired is an important milestone marking unprecedented failure by Congress - and the Iowans who serve on the Agriculture Committees in the House and Senate.
On February 28, Senator Grassley posted an interview with himself on his Senate web page, (I guess it’s easier than taking questions from reporters or constituents) It was titled “Q&A: Farm Matters on the Menu.” In it Grassley answered the question: “What ag policies are on your radar in the new Congress?”
Grassley spent a grand total of 10 words mentioning the 500+ day over due Farm Bill: “While work is underway on writing a new farm bill…….” and then it was on to other things. The Farm Bill, or the need to enact a new one, didn’t even merit a full sentence in an accounting of farm matters on Grassley’s radar. Remember, Senator Grassley is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. The lack of attention given this matter makes clear that a new Farm Bill is not much of a priority for Grassley or the Republican controlled Senate Ag Committee. Clearly, they are moving onto other things.
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The Silent Six is a very appropriate way to address these cowardly scoundrels.
I am constantly reaching out to them. Condescending replies are all I get. “I don’t always agree with him”from Grassley - then f*cking DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE AND SUBSTANTIVE!