Grassley’s binding words on Supreme Court

In 2016, I wrote Iowa U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley a letter protesting his refusal to hold hearings on President Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court.

I received a reply from Sen. Grassley. He cited Joe Biden in declaring that a nominee should not be confirmed during an election campaign and 'because election season is well underway, no matter the qualifications of the nominee, the hyper-political environment would cause lasting harm to the court, to the nominee, and to the nation. A hearing under those circumstances would be all politics, and no Constitution.”

Furthermore, Grassley wrote: 'The Senate's decision to exercise its constitutional power to withhold consent from a nominee until after the next president is sworn in will allow the nominee to receive fair consideration, as opposed to attempts from each party to promote its electoral agenda.”

These are the words of Chuck Grassley. He is bound to oppose any nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg under after January 20 when the next president is sworn in. Any other position is the height of hypocrisy.

Jerry Harrington

Iowa City