Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has taken to Twitter to offer a warning about embattled U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. President Trump lately has been tweeting about his disappointment in the man he picked to be attorney general. Trump’s complaint is that Sessions recused himself from the investigation of possible Trump campaign ties with Russia. Conservatives have rallied to defend Sessions, who was a leading advocate of tough immigration policies when he was a senator.

Now, Senator Grassley has tweeted that “Everybody in D.C. Shld b warned that the agenda for the judiciary Comm is set for rest of 2017.” Grassley is chairman of the committee and Grassley sets the schedule for hearings to consider Trump’s nominees for key government positions.

If Trump dumps Sessions and nominates someone else to be attorney general, Grassley has vowed that “no way” will there be a hearing this year for another attorney general nominee.

(Radio Iowa)

Senator Joni Ernst says taxpayers “shouldn’t cover the costs associated with gender reassignment surgery,” but Ernst says any qualified American should be able to serve in the military. President Trump has sent a series of tweets, announcing the U.S. military “will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the military.” Trump says transgender soldiers cause “disruption” and cloud the military’s focus on “decisive and overwhelming victory.”

Republican Joni Ernst is the first female combat veteran to serve in the U.S. Senate. While Ernst says she, too, doesn’t think taxpayers should pay for soldiers to have gender reassignment surgery, Ernst would not bar transgender people from joining the military. Ernst says anyone who “can meet the physical training standards” and is willing “to defend our freedoms and way of life” should be allowed to serve.

The Associated Press reports Congressman Steve King is praising Trump for ensuring the military isn’t “experimenting” and allowing transgender individuals to become soldiers. Senator Chuck Grassley told a group of Iowa reporters Wednesday that he routinely defers to Ernst’s expertise on military matters, but Grassley says he hasn’t studied this issue. It’s unclear how many transgender soldiers are currently serving.

A report for the military estimates it could be about seven-thousand of the one-point-three million soldiers currently on active duty.

(Radio Iowa)

A teenager from Bussey, in southeastern Iowa’s Marion County, died Wednesday when the ATV he was riding struck a tree. The Iowa State Patrol says the 16-year old male was traveling southbound on a private trail inside the city limits of Bussey, when the 2015 4-wheeler he was operating, hit a tree. The impact caused the driver’s head to also strike the tree, causing severe injury. The teen, whose name was withheld, died at the scene.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The president of Briar Cliff University in Sioux City intends to leave his position at the end of the upcoming fall semester after serving less than two years. Hamid Shirvani said in a college news release Wednesday that the decision “is a result of a combination of family, personal and professional considerations.” The university board of trustees will begin its search in the next few months for a new president.

Shirvani began his Briar Cliff stay on June 1 last year, replacing Bev Wharton, who led the private Sioux City college for 15 years. Shirvani left a position as senior fellow at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C., to join Briar Cliff.

The fall semester student count showed a student enrollment more than 1,300 students.