“Whatever a national emergency may be, that’s not it,” tweeted experienced Supreme Court litigator Neal Katyal, after President Donald Trump admitted during his February 15 press conference, “I didn’t need to do this. But I’d rather do it much faster.”

The courts may stop Trump from using funds appropriated for other purposes to have the military build a wall along the southern border, which Congress has repeatedly declined to authorize. But the president’s warlord-like behavior can still do lasting harm to democratic institutions.

Iowa Republicans in Congress are either unconcerned about this “reckless disregard for the separation of powers” or cheering it on.

Democratic State Senator Jeff Danielson announced his resignation today, Iowa Starting Line was first to report. His decision will force a special election in Senate district 30 on an accelerated schedule, because the vacancy arose during the legislative session.

State Representatives Bob Kressig and Dave Williams, the Iowa House Democrats who represent both halves of Danielson’s district, told Bleeding Heartland this evening they do not plan to compete in the special election. Just elected for the first time in November, Williams said in a Facebook message, “I am new in the House, enjoying the experience, and intend to stay focused on House District 60 constituents.”

Danielson’s last two Republican challengers also ruled out the race.

Iowa state senators have amended their chamber’s ethics code following a high-profile complaint against Democratic Senator Nate Boulton, which was dismissed late last year.

The new language cover actions occurring outside the capitol building and allows citizens to file a complaint more than three years after an incident. However, the updated code would still lead to dismissal of a complaint like Sharon Wegner’s allegations against Boulton.

As Iowa Republicans look for a candidate who could win back the third Congressional district, the Des Moines rumor mill has focused on several state lawmakers from Polk County. One of them, State Senator Zach Nunn, says he is getting a lot of encouragement and is not ruling the race out.

After resisting major changes to the Iowa caucus process for decades, the Iowa Democratic Party has proposed rules that would make the 2020 caucuses much more accessible and transparent.

Although some inequities would remain baked into the caucus system, the reforms would be a huge step forward.

Longtime Democratic campaign staffer and candidate consultant Julie Stauch follows up on her last commentary about qualities she’s seeking in a presidential contender. -promoted by Laura Belin

Friends who live in other states have asked me, “How do you decide who to support for president in a crowded caucus (primary) field?” The answer is often, “It depends upon the year.” In a year like 2020, we’re seeing a diverse, talent-laden field of candidates. Here’s part of how I narrow the crowded field.

Connie Ryan on the current Republican effort to pack the courts: “Iowans understand this legislation is intended to advance the specific political agenda of a small group with a loud voice, placing our courts in harm’s way.” -promoted by Laura Belin

Interfaith Alliance of Iowa jumped into the business of protecting Iowa’s fair and impartial courts upon the announcement by the religious right in the summer of 2010 that they intended to unseat three highly qualified Supreme Court justices. They were politicizing the retention elections simply because they were mad the court ruled for the marriage rights of same-sex couples based on equal protections under our constitution.

The thought of a special interest group seeking revenge on our courts for a constitutionally-based and unanimous decision was unprecedented and frightening. Iowans wondered if this was where the division in our country was really taking us? Would extremist, special interest groups actually go after highly qualified justices committed to the constitution and the rule of law as retribution? The answer was yes.

Alexandra Rucinski mocks efforts to take down presidential candidates who aren’t good enough for “brogressives.” -promoted by Laura Belin

Thank you for taking the time to read our letter posted by the Gaslight Gazette. Our movement, we feel, is deeply misunderstood.

We have been slandered for trying to warn this nation about the very great threat of representative politics.

Ira Lacher: The 2020 election will belong to the most popular, the rock star, the candidate who can best energize a crowd, make them believe. -promoted by Laura Belin

If you read Gary Hart’s op-ed in Sunday’s Des Moines Register, the best president is someone who is mature, well-seasoned and experienced. “The newest, the cutest, the funniest, the quickest wit is interesting but irrelevant,” he writes, in a not-so-offhanded dis of rock star candidates such as U.S. Senator Cory Booker, who spoke Saturday to a mostly young, SRO crowd packed into Des Moines’ Kum and Go Theater.

Some Republicans have encouraged State Representative Jon Jacobsen to run for Congress in Iowa’s third district, and he’s not ruling it out, though he will not decide anytime soon.

Matt Chapman: “The need to control women is what this is about, and the rage stems from a perception of impotency, caused by that lack of control.” -promoted by Laura Belin

It was impossible to miss the sea of white the Democratic women of the U.S. House wore to the State of the Union address on Tuesday. It was a nod to the suffragettes, who paved the way to winning the right to vote on August 26, 1920, and a celebration of the record-breaking diversity of the 116th United States Congress sworn in on January 23, 2019, almost one hundred years later.

Yet reminders of how far there still is to go echoed throughout the chamber. While President Donald Trump acknowledged the record-breaking number of women legislators elected, it took a moment for the modern-day suffragettes to stand and applaud. His praise was unwelcome, due to his history of misogyny.

Republican lawmakers and Governor Kim Reynolds are poised to give GOP officials and their proxies control over what has been a mostly non-partisan system for choosing Iowa judges since 1962.

Until a couple of months ago, I didn’t realize the Republican trifecta could blow up our judicial selection process in a matter of weeks. The Iowa Constitution spells out how vacancies on the bench are filled, and altering any language in our state’s founding document takes years.

Unfortunately, a time bomb has lurked in Article V, Section 16 for more than five decades. While most elements of the system can be changed only through a constitutional amendment, the manner of forming judicial nominating commissions (half appointed by the governor, half elected by attorneys) is specified only “Until July 4, 1973, and thereafter unless otherwise provided by law.”

How did that language end up in the constitution? A Linn County Democrat offered a fateful amendment 60 years ago.

Former sports editor Ira Lacher turns his attention to baseball. -promoted by Laura Belin

We interrupt this political season for some important news:

FLASH — Major League Baseball probably will adopt the designated hitter for both leagues beginning in 2020.

Every election, a handful of Iowa legislative races turn out to be far closer than expected. One of the sleepers in 2018 was Steve Gorman’s rematch against Republican State Representative Mary Ann Hanusa in House district 16, covering part of Council Bluffs.

Hanusa was a four-term incumbent and had defeated Gorman by 6,847 votes to 5,120 (57.2 percent to 42.8 percent) in 2016. Last year, Republicans spent about $83,000 on direct mail, radio, and digital advertising for Hanusa (see here and here), far less than they spent in districts they worried about losing. By the same token, Democrats spent at least $100,000 in more than a dozen Iowa House races during the 2018 campaign, including $128,000 defending the other Council Bluffs-based seat. Gorman had to raise all of the $24,405.45 the party spent on his behalf.

Nevertheless, Gorman nearly pulled off an upset, losing to Hanusa by 4,949 votes to 4,835 (49.5 percent to 48.4 percent), with 208 votes going to Libertarian Steve Sechrest. Now Gorman’s the first announced Democratic candidate for a Republican-held Iowa Senate seat. Both parties will surely take his challenge seriously in 2020.

Catherine Gayle Williams passed away on May 20, 2020. Original post follows.

Democratic State Representative Marti Anderson delivered these remarks in the Iowa House on February 4. -promoted by Laura Belin

The Iowa House of Representatives on February 4, 2019 begins to observe Black History Month. The ancestors of African Americans did not immigrate to the United States of their own free will like most of our families. They were trafficked to America to work the fields, build our communities and help create our nation’s history.

Beginning today and for the next month, you will hear inspirational stories of Black Americans and you will be moved by their lives of hard work and persistence to make America a better place for their children.

I am thrilled to open this special month of American history by honoring the Iowa grit and American spirit of my friend and shero, Catherine Gayle Williams of Des Moines. Ms. Williams has had two primary careers in her 104 rich years of life, and I would like to weave her story of accomplishment for you.

A divided state board has approved settlements worth a combined $4.15 million to two women who reported extensive, appalling sexual misconduct by former Iowa Finance Authority Director Dave Jamison. Under the agreements posted in full below, $2.35 million will go to the agency’s former business development director Beth Mahaffey, and $1.8 million will go to the agency’s communications director Ashley Jared. Attorney’s fees for both women will come out of those payments.

The settlements bring closure to women who endured a horrific workplace environment. But they also ensure that oversight failures at the finance authority will never be fully explored in litigation.

John Clayton picks apart the methods a national magazine used to rank Iowa the “best state to live,” which became a leading Republican campaign talking point. -promoted by Laura Belin

Governor Kim Reynolds megaphoned the U.S. News and World Report ranking of Iowa as number 1 among the 50 states, helping her sputter to victory last November.

Do you think the magazine’s conclusions are based upon valid and reasonable data interpretations? Or are there gaps in the logic or assumptions being made?

Republican lawmakers have unveiled their plan to replace Iowa’s merit-based system for choosing judges with a process dominated by politicians from their own party. Governor Kim Reynolds quickly gave the bill her blessing, just weeks after she said of judicial selection, “we don’t want it to be political.”

Allison Engel researched Steve King’s family tree last year and found “the origin story of most Americans.” -promoted by Laura Belin

Embattled Iowa Republican U.S. Representative Steve King declared recently he was descended from abolitionists, presumably trying to put a better face on his racist and anti-immigrant utterances that finally caused the House to strip him of his committee assignments. This leaves our state without representation we deserve and are paying for, but at least his words now carry less weight.

Understanding King’s background is essential to comprehending how a growing number of Americans, young and old, are ignoring or rewriting history to embrace hatred of “the other.”

Matt Chapman reports from the first legislative hearing on a constitutional amendment to change Iowa’s felon disenfranchisement system. -promoted by Laura Belin

Despite record low temperatures outside, the room was packed for the January 31 Iowa House Judiciary subcommittee meeting to consider House Study Bill 68, a constitutional amendment proposed by Governor Kim Reynolds.