Grassley is a good fit for Judiciary

That 'farmer from Iowa with no law degree” is about to take over one of the most important posts in the U.S. Senate.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is poised to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in January. He'll be the first nonlawyer to chair the committee in its 198-year history. But after 34 years on the panel, we and many others have no doubt Grassley has ample experience to handle the job.

And the job will be considerable. The Judiciary Committee oversees the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the sprawling Department of Homeland Security. Within its DHS duties, the panel will have a key role in the immigration reform debate. And it will take center stage in vetting U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch's nomination for attorney general.

The Judiciary Committee handles nominations of federal judges, all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

'The Judiciary Committee should not be a rubber stamp for the president,” Grassley said of his approach to judicial nominations in a statement. 'However, as I have as ranking member, I will work to confirm consensus nominees. Factors I consider important include intellectual ability, respect for the Constitution, fidelity to the law, personal integrity, appropriate judicial temperament, and professional competence. Judges are to decide cases and controversies - not establish public policy or make law.”

In many ways, Grassley is a perfect fit for the judiciary chairmanship. It will give him a powerful platform from which to pursue his well-known drives against government waste and fraud, and to protect whistle-blowers who uncover those problems. We hope that his ascension also raises the profile of Grassley's effort to allow cameras in federal courts.

We're confident that Grassley will treat judicial appointments and other nominees fairly, and resist pressure to delay and obstruct purely for political ends. We don't want a 'rubber stamp,” but we also don't want competent, qualified nominees to be sacrificed to political brinkmanship.

We also hope Grassley will guide a serious, comprehensive effort to reform the nation's immigration system, one that secures the nation's borders but also deals with the reality of millions of undocumented immigrants already living and working in our communities.

That's a tall order, but we believe the Iowa farmer is up to the challenge.

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