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The many faces of Chuck Grassley
Iowa's senior senator is shepherding the second of President Donald Trump's nominees onto the U.S. Supreme Court.
As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican Chuck Grassley refused to call a confirmation hearing late in President Barack Obama's term to consider his nominee, Merrick Garland, who ultimately returned to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
However, Grassley later scheduled a confirmation hearing for Neil Gorsuch, also a federal appeals court judge at the time, who was Trump's pick for the same Supreme Court seat. Although Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats would filibuster a vote on Gorsuch, Republicans triggered the 'nuclear option' of lowering the vote threshold and Gorsuch later was confirmed on a 54-45 vote.
The confirmation hearing on Trump's second pick, Brent Kavanaugh, was extended to hear testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, the California professor who said Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her when they were high school students. Kavanaugh forcefully denied the accusation.
Browse a collection of photos of Sen. Chuck Grassley during yesterday and today's hearings.
A day after the extraordinary hearing, a Republican majority on Grassley's Judiciary Committee decided to advance Kavanaugh's nomination to a Senate floor vote.
Only a few senators had not announced by Friday morning how they will vote: Susan Collins, R-Maine; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia.
A full Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. With the vacancy created by the retirement of Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, here are the eight people on the court now:
John G. Roberts Jr.
Chief Justice
Nominated by President George W. Bush
Took his seat Sept. 29, 2005.
Clarence Thomas
Associate Justice
Nominated by President George H.W. Bush
Took his seat Oct. 23, 1991
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Associate Justice
Nominated by President Bill Clinton
Took her seat Aug. 10, 1993
Stephen G. Breyer
Associate Justice
Nominated by President Bill Clinton
Took his seat Aug. 3, 1994
Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Associate Justice
Nominated by President George W. Bush
Took his seat Jan. 31, 2006
Sonia Sotomayor
Associate Justice
Nominated by President Barack Obama
Took her seat Aug. 8, 2009
Elena Kagan
Associate Justice
Nominated by President Barack Obama
Took her seat Aug. 7, 2010
Neil M. Gorsuch
Associate Justice
Nominated by President Donald Trump
Took his seat April 10, 2017
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee reacts to noise during the meeting to vote on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, U.S., September 28, 2018. REUTERS/Mary F. Calvert
U.S. Supreme Court nominee judge Brett Kavanaugh arrives with Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) for the second day of his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Wattie
Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) left, speaks to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, focusing on allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh against Christine Blasey Ford in the early 1980s. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) listens to the right. (Tom Williams/Pool/CQ Roll Call/Abaca Press/TNS)
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, attends Thursday's hearing in Washington. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Melina Mara
Senate Judiciary Committee members (L-R) Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) talk at the conclusion of the Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., September 27, 2018. Win McNamee/Pool via REUTERS
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) holds up a letter from Mark Judge, longtime friend of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, as members of the Judiciary Committee meet to vote on the nomination of Kavanaugh to be a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 28, 2018. REUTERS/Jim Bourg
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) listens as members of the Judiciary Committee meet to vote on the nomination of Kavanaugh to be a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 28, 2018. REUTERS/Jim Bourg
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, walks through the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 18, 2018. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Al Drago.
Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, listen to Judge Brett Kavanaugh during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., September 27, 2018. Tom Williams/Pool via REUTERS
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley smiles during the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., September 27, 2018. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) speaks with Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) during a break in a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 27, 2018. REUTERS/Jim Bourg
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-IA, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee returns from a break in the confirmation hearing of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Palo Alto University professor Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of a sexual assault in 1982 in Washington, U.S., September 27, 2018. REUTERS/Mary F. Calvert
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) speaks as Christine Blasey Ford testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Pool/Abaca Press/TNS)
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (Michael Reynolds/Pool/Abaca Press/TNS)
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