In Iowa, Trump’s agenda collides with 2028 ambitions

By Eric Bradner, CNN

Davenport, Iowa (CNN) — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Florida Sen. Rick Scott, at fundraisers in Iowa this week, sought to explain to the Republicans who are poised to have the first say in picking the party’s 2028 presidential nominee why they want to put the brakes on the “big, beautiful” bill that contains much of President Donald Trump’s agenda.

But Sue Cheek, a resident of Eldridge nearby, didn’t want to hear it.

“We are the ones that elected Trump. This is what we wanted him to do. So let him do it,” she told CNN minutes before Scott took the stage at a fundraiser Friday night at a casino in Davenport.

“We are in a critical place right now in our country,” said Cheek, who works at a credit union. “I don’t care how much it costs to make our country secure. Once we get that done, then we can worry about that other stuff.”

Trump is only months into his second term in office, but already, ambitious Republicans are flocking to the state whose caucuses are expected to kick off the party’s 2028 presidential nominating contest. Paul spoke at a GOP fundraiser in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, and Scott followed with a fundraiser in Davenport on Friday. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will speak at the conservative Christian group The Family Leader’s summit in July. Days later, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will visit Des Moines to headline the state party’s Lincoln Dinner.

The two senators arrived in Iowa while the fate of Trump’s legislative agenda rested in the Senate. Conservatives like Paul and Scott are demanding changes — with Paul seeking to remove a debt ceiling increase and both seeking much steeper spending cuts. Their positions put them at odds with many Republicans in this politically potent state who helped propel Trump to the White House.

Asked by CNN before Thursday’s event if he’s faced pushback from Republicans in Iowa who want to see Trump’s agenda advance quickly, Paul acknowledged that “some have.”

“Some people come up to me and some people genuinely say, ‘Support the president. Support the president,’” Paul said. “But I think I was elected to be an independent voice.”

“There are things that we have some disagreements, and I don’t think it would be right just to be quiet and not try to make the bill better,” Paul said.

Scott said he is eager to achieve much of Trump’s bill, including making 2017 tax cuts permanent and funding efforts to secure the US-Mexico border.

“I want to get the president’s agenda done, too,” he told CNN. But, Scott said, “we have to understand we have a spending problem.”

“Interest rates are high. Inflation is high. If we want to help … we got to get a balanced budget,” Scott said. “We’ve got to have a we have to have a clear path to balanced budget.”

Though the 2028 election is still years from taking shape, Iowa — where an open race for governor and competitive House races in next year’s midterm elections give ambitious Republicans a pretext to visit and help raise money — is a near-permanent presidential battleground when an incumbent won’t be on the ballot in the next election.

Jeff Kaufmann, the longtime Iowa Republican Party chairman, said potential candidates are already calling him to ask for advice.

“We’re certainly not going to have a ‘Never Trump’ candidate that even has a prayer. I’m not even sure at this point if a person that is lukewarm on Trump is going to do very well,” Kaufmann told CNN.

But, he said, voters there have “a high tolerance for debate.”

“As long as they explain themselves — and in Iowa, they’re going to have a chance to do that — and as long as they are methodical and the underlying basis is conservative, come to Iowa,” Kaufmann said. “Everybody is going to get an honest look.”

That tolerance for debate was on display Thursday night in Cedar Rapids, when Paul received a friendly applause even after delivering a speech criticizing Trump’s tariffs and staking out his opposition to the “big, beautiful bill” that contains much of Trump’s agenda.

The Kentucky senator said he opposes the measure’s debt ceiling hike and wants to see overall spending levels drastically reduced.

Doug Dix, a retired banker who lives in Hiawatha who attended Paul’s speech Thursday night in Cedar Rapids, said he agrees with Paul’s positions on principle, but doesn’t want to see Trump’s agenda thwarted.

“I’m looking for somebody that wins and gets things done,” he said. “Let’s see if they get it done. I don’t think Rand Paul’s going to prevent it from getting it done.”

“Get the bill done. Get it on his desk,” Dix said.

Many Republicans said they are frustrated — not with Senate conservatives yet, but with judges, Democrats and the media, which they described as playing much larger roles in impeding Trump.

Tim Striley, the chairman of the Clinton County Republican Party, said Friday the intra-party debates over the bill are “healthy.” More frustrating, he said, are court rulings blocking Trump’s actions.

“You’ve got to give the man a chance to govern,” he said. “They didn’t do that the first time.”

Bonnie Powell, a retired nurse in Davenport, said she’d like to see Republicans on Capitol Hill back Trump.

“It gets frustrating,” she said. “But no matter how frustrating, Republicans aren’t near at the level of disagreeing as the other party.”

Her husband Steve Powell added: “Rand Paul, I’ve always liked him, but I don’t agree with him on this. … He’s only one vote. He’s not going to make the difference.”

“I’d like to see them follow through with what Trump’s already started,” he said.

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