Grassley talks to Garland to arrange meeting

DES MOINES - Sen. Chuck Grassley announced this afternoon he will meet with Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland.

Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke with Garland Monday and invited the federal judge to breakfast in the Senate dining room. The time and date are to be determined.

Grassley has repeatedly said he's standing on principle in refusing to hold hearings on President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee.

According to a brief announcement from Grassley's office, the senator invited Garland to meet to 'discuss the nomination and why the Senate will not consider a nominee until the next president takes office.”

'This is not about a person or an individual,” he said about Senate majority Republicans refusing to hold confirmation hearings. 'This is about the principle of letting the people decide.”

Monday was the second time Grassley spoke to Garland since the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals chief judge was nominated to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia. They talked by phone in mid-March. Grassley congratulated Garland and, according to the White House, an in-person meeting was being planned.

Garland called Grassley Monday - as they had discussed before the Easter recess, but the senator was on the floor. Grassley returned the call and during a 'short conversation” invited Garland to meet.

The confirmation process for Supreme Court nominees starts in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Majority Republicans, including Grassley, have said they won't have hearings on any Obama nominee until after the election.

That position has been unpopular with liberal groups as well as four Democrats seeking their party's nomination to challenge Grassley's re-election in November. State Sen. Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids called for an up-or-down vote on Garland. Former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge called Grassley's position 'obstructionism.”

In short, the message delivered to Grassley repeatedly at his town hall forums in northwest Iowa during the Senate's Easter recess was 'do your job.” Progressive groups demonstrated outside of Grassley's offices and events, and questions about the Supreme Court nomination dominated those forums.

Grassley's position was not without support, however. At Northwestern College in Orange City, for example, the most applause was when a woman thanked Grassley for his decision not to hold hearings.

The controversy around Grassley's decision has given new hope to Democrats who hope to deny him a seventh term. However, the Rothenberg-Gonzales Political Report called that likelihood 'a far-fetched scenario.” It calls the race 'Safe Republican.”

Still, Iowans representing unions and advocacy groups not supporting Grassley's re-election will travel to Washington Tuesday to participate in activities on Capitol Hill and a news conference at the Supreme Court. The group, which will include a former Grassley staffer and a GOP precinct committee member, will mark the 20th day that has passed since Garland's nomination.