Politics Day

President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled plans to sign a bipartisan housing bill Wednesday morning, surprising Republicans and Democrats alike. Trump wrote in a social media post that he would not sign the legislation until Congress passed the Save America Act. Political scientists Rachel Caufield of Drake University and Peter Hanson of Grinnell College offer analysis of this recent about-face and rising tensions between the president and Senate Republicans. They also discuss takeaways for Iowa from Tuesday's New York primary, the U.S. Senate's vote in favor of a war powers resolution concerning Iran and more.

Three Libertarians who filed to run for governor, lieutenant governor and U.S. House in Iowa won't appear on the ballot. That's after members of the Republican party challenged their paperwork, and the state objection panel voted to remove the names of Nicholas Gluba, Jules Cutler and Marco Battaglia from Iowa ballots. In this episode, host Ben Kieffer recaps that decision as well as the state party conventions with Megan Goldberg of Cornell College and Jonathan Hassid of Iowa State University. They also discuss looming changes to Social Security and the tentative peace deal with Iran.

The general election battle has begun in Iowa. On this Politics Day episode of River to River, analysis from political scientists Karen Kedrowski of Iowa State University and Wayne Moyer of Grinnell College on Rob Sand's pick for a running mate, the growing fight for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat, updates from the war in Iran and more.

Iowa Republicans rejected a candidate President Donald Trump endorsed for governor. On this politics day episode, we dive into the primary results. Political scientists Donna Hoffman of the University of Northern Iowa and Kelly Shaw of Iowa State University analyze these results and look ahead to the midterms. They also discuss the Senate race and the competition in Iowa Congressional Districts.

In March, President Donald Trump called the war with Iran a tremendous success. Weeks later, the countries are in a fragile ceasefire and the U.S. is prepared to resume strikes if a deal isn't met soon. University of Northern Iowa political scientist and former Air Force intelligence analyst Evan Renfro joins this Politics Day to discuss the war and the Trump administration's foreign policy. Then, Cornell College's Megan Goldberg breaks down the upcoming primaries for the open 2nd Congressional District seat.

The legality of geofence warrants, where law enforcement can access the data of people in a geographic area, is being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. University of Iowa Technology Law Clinic director Megan Graham walks us through the case. Also, fellow Iowa law professor Bethany Berger talks about the 1884 case being incorrectly cited in the Trump Administration's birthright citizenship case. Then, Cornell College's Megan Goldberg walks us through the 1st Congressional District primary races.