by Jennifer Shutt and Shauneen Miranda, Iowa Capital Dispatch November 12, 2025 This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — The longest shutdown in U.S. history ended Wednesday night when President Donald Trump signed a spending package that reopens the government and funds most of it through January. The Oval Office ceremony came just hours after […]
by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch November 10, 2025 Iowa saw its first snowfall over the past week, which Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said marked the “official end of the growing season.” While crop progress and condition statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are unavailable due to the ongoing government shutdown, Naig […]
by Shauneen Miranda, Iowa Capital Dispatch November 4, 2025 This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Tuesday failed for the 14th time to advance a stopgap spending bill to fund the government, as the ongoing shutdown hit 35 days and is now tied with the shutdown of 2018-2019 as the longest ever. […]
by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch October 28, 2025 U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra formally announced his campaign for governor Tuesday, saying he aims to “take Iowa to new heights” by working with President Donald Trump and keeping the governor’s seat Republican in 2026. Feenstra had filed the paperwork to run for governor with the Iowa […]
by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch October 28, 2025 U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley called for the end of countervailing duties on phosphate fertilizer during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday on competition in fertilizer and seed industries. Farmers, retailers and politicians from both sides of the aisle agreed that consolidation in the agricultural industry is making […]
by Jennifer Shutt, Iowa Capital Dispatch October 27, 2025 WASHINGTON — The stakes of the ongoing government shutdown rose Monday as the U.S. Department of Agriculture doubled down on its position that food benefits for November could not be paid and a union for federal workers implored lawmakers to pass a stopgap measure. As the […]
by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch October 27, 2025 Temperatures across the state of Iowa were near the climatological normal, though precipitation was below average as parts of the state slid into dry conditions for the close of harvest season, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. The IDALS weekly weather report […]
by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch October 27, 2025 Iowa lawmakers U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn and U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, along with U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wisconsin, urged a “coordinated action” across the Trump administration to prioritize soybeans in a trade deal with China and to finalize renewable fuel guidelines. The GOP lawmakers addressed […]
by Shauneen Miranda and Ariana Figueroa, Iowa Capital Dispatch October 24, 2025 WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a memo Friday the agency’s contingency fund cannot legally be used to provide food assistance benefits for more than 42 million people in November, as the government shutdown drags on. The position is a reversal […]
by Jacob Fischler, Iowa Capital Dispatch October 24, 2025 The 75 million Americans who receive Social Security benefits will see a 2.8% increase in payments next year, the Social Security Administration said Friday. The cost-of-living adjustment is just below the inflation rate of 3% announced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, also on Friday. The adjustment is […]
