Grassley mows over Senate opposition to judicial pick

As Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley jammed a controversial nominee through the Judiciary Committee he chairs last week, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker asked a question many Iowans also have been asking for years.

“You are a decent man. Why are you doing this?” said Booker as Grassley cut off debate on Emil Bove’s nomination to a lifetime appointment on a federal appeals court.

Bove is a piece of work. He was one of President Donald Trump’s criminal defense attorneys. As an associate attorney general, he dropped an investigation into New York Mayor Eric Adams. He fired prosecutors who worked on cases involving Jan. 6 rioters.

A former Department of Justice attorney, Erez Reuveni, filed a whistleblower claim with the Senate accusing Bove of advocating for the department to defy court orders. During a meeting, Reuveni claimed Bove said the department should tell courts to "f**k you" if judges tried to halt deportation removals.

Reuveni was fired after admitting to a federal judge the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador was a mistake. Republicans dismiss Reuveni as a disgruntled former employee.

But Grassley refused to allow a vote on whether Reuveni should be allowed to testify before the committee. Grassley also refused to let all committee Democrats speak on the nomination.

Bove’s nomination also was opposed by 900 former DOJ lawyers.

So, unable to speak or question the whistleblower, Booker and Democrats walked out of the committee meeting in protest.

“I’ve served on this committee longer than anyone else in this room. I’ve seen a lot of confirmation fights. What we’re witnessing has all the hallmarks of a political hit job,” Grassley told Radio Iowa after the meeting.

Grassley led the granddaddy of all political hit jobs when he refused to even hold a hearing on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. Grassley said it was too close to an election, but in 2020 he supported voting on Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination just days before the 2020 election.

Now, we’re all watching Grassley’s court rubber stamp Trump’s authoritarian excesses.

Bove has no business being a judge on a court that handles appeals from Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Now, if there was an opening for a henchman, Bove would be perfect.

So, “What happened to Chuck Grassley?” Iowans have been asking often since 2009 when Grasley was part of bipartisan negotiations with Obama over health care reform. But he told Iowans the president’s proposal would allow the government to decide when to “pull the plug on grandma.”

Grassley has been remarkably loyal to Trump. On Jan. 6, 2021, Grassley rightly condemned the attack “on American democracy itself.” Then he voted against punishing the president through impeachment. Then, in October 2021, Grassley accepted Trump’s endorsement of his re-election bid.

The list of Grassley kowtows to Trump is long. The list of times Grassley opposed damaging Trump policies is very short.

Grassley is a political weather vane. Wherever the Republican Party goes, Chuck Grassley comes along for the ride. Even if it’s a runaway Trump train.

But why did Grassley torch his legacy in service to the Emil Boves of the world? Cranky capitulation to our reckless king isn’t much of a legacy.

Trump is shredding constitutional protections. Our lawn-mowing senator is eager to help.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com