{"id":167168,"date":"2026-11-11T10:47:01","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T18:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/11\/11\/chuck-grassley-says-democrats-are-stonewalling-judges-for-the-first-time-in-our-nations-history-merrick-garland-would-like-a-word\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T10:47:01","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T18:47:01","slug":"chuck-grassley-says-democrats-are-stonewalling-judges-for-the-first-time-in-our-nations-history-merrick-garland-would-like-a-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/11\/11\/chuck-grassley-says-democrats-are-stonewalling-judges-for-the-first-time-in-our-nations-history-merrick-garland-would-like-a-word\/","title":{"rendered":"Chuck Grassley Says Democrats Are Stonewalling Judges \u2018For The First Time In Our Nation\u2019s History.\u2019 Merrick Garland Would Like A Word."},"content":{"rendered":"

Senate Republicans have until January 3 before Democrats take over the chamber, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley is spending those weeks treating the committee\u2019s rulebook like a list of suggestions. At Tuesday\u2019s hearing, the committee\u2019s first since the GOP\u2019s midterm drubbing, Grassley ditched a whole stack of committee norms<\/a>. He signaled nomination hearings this week and next, when the bipartisan practice is to space them at least two weeks apart. He lined up as many as seven nominees for a single hearing. He\u2019s calling nominees before staff have cleared their FBI background checks. And he added two Texas district court nominees whose questionnaires landed 10 and 14 days before their hearing, well short of the committee\u2019s 28-day rule.<\/p>\n

Those two Texans tell you everything about the vibe. James Sullivan lost his race for the Texas Supreme Court<\/a> last Tuesday. The White House sent his paperwork to the committee the next day, and Trump announced the pick with a post noting that \u201cSenators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn highly recommend him!\u201d Lose an election on Tuesday, get a lifetime appointment by the following Tuesday. The DOJ\u2019s Elliot Gaiser runs the Office of Legal Counsel and got a call from Cruz\u2019s office<\/a> about the job the day after the midterms. Gaiser signed a memo justifying the administration\u2019s lethal strikes on Caribbean boats, and his only apparent tie to Texas is a Fifth Circuit clerkship.<\/p>\n

Dick Durbin, the committee\u2019s top Democrat, said the scramble is about filling Texas district court seats before Senator-elect James Talarico is sworn in, at which point the blue slip tradition Grassley has kept for district court nominees<\/a> gives a Democrat a say. And a Democratic majority in the chamber makes it unlikely many nominees get confirmed. Durbin told Grassley he was making \u201ca serious mistake\u201d and offered a preview of coming attractions, \u201cWhen you have to live with it under a new Chairman, I\u2019m sorry to tell you, but you asked for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the news. But the real story is how Grassley defended all this, as reported by Reuters<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI want to be very clear: Some Democrats so despise President Trump that for the first time in our nation\u2019s history they\u2019re planning to stonewall a president\u2019s ability to appoint judges,\u201d Grassley said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s some rich irony coming from one of the architects of the GOP\u2019s theft of a SUPREME COURT seat. When President Barack Obama nominated then-Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit to replace Justice Antonin Scalia in March 2016, Grassley chaired the Judiciary Committee and helped make sure the nomination never saw the light of day. There was no hearing and no vote, just 293 days of nothing until the nomination expired in January 2017. At the time, Grassley assured everyone the \u201csky won\u2019t fall with one less justice.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n

Garland wasn\u2019t even Grassley\u2019s first try at this. Back when Bill Clinton nominated Garland to the D.C. Circuit, Grassley\u2019s answer was to try to abolish the seat entirely<\/a>. And in the 2016 lame duck, with Grassley running the committee, the Senate confirmed exactly zero circuit or district court judges, according to the Congressional Research Service<\/a>. So don\u2019t give Democrats all the credit for stonewalling a president\u2019s ability to appoint judges when it\u2019s Grassley\u2019s signature move.<\/p>\n

So is Grassley, who is 93 years young and has retirement rumors swirling around him, so addled that he can\u2019t recall a wildly important moment in American history that secured the conservatives a 6-3 majority on the Court? (He insisted last week that he won\u2019t resign during the lame duck, having already said he doesn\u2019t want \u201ca Democrat governor choosing my successor.\u201d Funny how that works.) I don\u2019t know. But honestly, that\u2019s the kind interpretation.<\/p>\n

The alternative is deliberate misinformation of the 2+2=5 variety, where the man who ran the blockade stands up and announces that blockades have never happened. And memory doesn\u2019t seem to be the problem; at an April 2025 town hall in Jefferson, Iowa<\/a>, Grassley explained the Garland blockade as the custom \u201cwhen you have a president of one party and a Senate of the other party.\u201d <\/p>\n

So, this is Grassley\u2019s own playbook in action, but you wouldn\u2019t know any of that from Reuters\u2019 write-up of his remarks, which runs the \u201cfirst time in our nation\u2019s history\u201d line without a single word about Merrick Garland. Grassley doesn\u2019t need anyone to forget 2016. He just needs nobody to bring it up.<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong> Chair Of Senate Judiciary Committee Defends Decision Not To Confirm Judge Merrick Garland<\/a>
Donald Trump Goes On The Attack Over Blue Slips<\/a>
Grassley Telling Trump He Really Doesn\u2019t Want To Have To Vote On An Unqualified Ghost Hunter<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Chuck Grassley Says Democrats Are Stonewalling Judges \u2018For The First Time In Our Nation\u2019s History.\u2019 Merrick Garland Would Like A Word.<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMerrick Garland (Photo by Mark Wilson\/Getty Images)\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Senate Republicans have until January 3 before Democrats take over the chamber, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley is spending those weeks treating the committee\u2019s rulebook like a list of suggestions. At Tuesday\u2019s hearing, the committee\u2019s first since the GOP\u2019s midterm drubbing, Grassley ditched a whole stack of committee norms<\/a>. He signaled nomination hearings this week and next, when the bipartisan practice is to space them at least two weeks apart. He lined up as many as seven nominees for a single hearing. He\u2019s calling nominees before staff have cleared their FBI background checks. And he added two Texas district court nominees whose questionnaires landed 10 and 14 days before their hearing, well short of the committee\u2019s 28-day rule.<\/p>\n

Those two Texans tell you everything about the vibe. James Sullivan lost his race for the Texas Supreme Court<\/a> last Tuesday. The White House sent his paperwork to the committee the next day, and Trump announced the pick with a post noting that \u201cSenators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn highly recommend him!\u201d Lose an election on Tuesday, get a lifetime appointment by the following Tuesday. The DOJ\u2019s Elliot Gaiser runs the Office of Legal Counsel and got a call from Cruz\u2019s office<\/a> about the job the day after the midterms. Gaiser signed a memo justifying the administration\u2019s lethal strikes on Caribbean boats, and his only apparent tie to Texas is a Fifth Circuit clerkship.<\/p>\n

Dick Durbin, the committee\u2019s top Democrat, said the scramble is about filling Texas district court seats before Senator-elect James Talarico is sworn in, at which point the blue slip tradition Grassley has kept for district court nominees<\/a> gives a Democrat a say. And a Democratic majority in the chamber makes it unlikely many nominees get confirmed. Durbin told Grassley he was making \u201ca serious mistake\u201d and offered a preview of coming attractions, \u201cWhen you have to live with it under a new Chairman, I\u2019m sorry to tell you, but you asked for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the news. But the real story is how Grassley defended all this, as reported by Reuters<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI want to be very clear: Some Democrats so despise President Trump that for the first time in our nation\u2019s history they\u2019re planning to stonewall a president\u2019s ability to appoint judges,\u201d Grassley said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s some rich irony coming from one of the architects of the GOP\u2019s theft of a SUPREME COURT seat. When President Barack Obama nominated then-Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit to replace Justice Antonin Scalia in March 2016, Grassley chaired the Judiciary Committee and helped make sure the nomination never saw the light of day. There was no hearing and no vote, just 293 days of nothing until the nomination expired in January 2017. At the time, Grassley assured everyone the \u201csky won\u2019t fall with one less justice.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n

Garland wasn\u2019t even Grassley\u2019s first try at this. Back when Bill Clinton nominated Garland to the D.C. Circuit, Grassley\u2019s answer was to try to abolish the seat entirely<\/a>. And in the 2016 lame duck, with Grassley running the committee, the Senate confirmed exactly zero circuit or district court judges, according to the Congressional Research Service<\/a>. So don\u2019t give Democrats all the credit for stonewalling a president\u2019s ability to appoint judges when it\u2019s Grassley\u2019s signature move.<\/p>\n

So is Grassley, who is 93 years young and has retirement rumors swirling around him, so addled that he can\u2019t recall a wildly important moment in American history that secured the conservatives a 6-3 majority on the Court? (He insisted last week that he won\u2019t resign during the lame duck, having already said he doesn\u2019t want \u201ca Democrat governor choosing my successor.\u201d Funny how that works.) I don\u2019t know. But honestly, that\u2019s the kind interpretation.<\/p>\n

The alternative is deliberate misinformation of the 2+2=5 variety, where the man who ran the blockade stands up and announces that blockades have never happened. And memory doesn\u2019t seem to be the problem; at an April 2025 town hall in Jefferson, Iowa<\/a>, Grassley explained the Garland blockade as the custom \u201cwhen you have a president of one party and a Senate of the other party.\u201d <\/p>\n

So, this is Grassley\u2019s own playbook in action, but you wouldn\u2019t know any of that from Reuters\u2019 write-up of his remarks, which runs the \u201cfirst time in our nation\u2019s history\u201d line without a single word about Merrick Garland. Grassley doesn\u2019t need anyone to forget 2016. He just needs nobody to bring it up.<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong> Chair Of Senate Judiciary Committee Defends Decision Not To Confirm Judge Merrick Garland<\/a>
Donald Trump Goes On The Attack Over Blue Slips<\/a>
Grassley Telling Trump He Really Doesn\u2019t Want To Have To Vote On An Unqualified Ghost Hunter<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senate Republicans have until January 3 before Democrats take over the chamber, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley is spending those weeks treating the committee\u2019s rulebook like a list of suggestions. At Tuesday\u2019s hearing, the committee\u2019s first since the GOP\u2019s midterm drubbing, Grassley ditched a whole stack of committee norms. He signaled nomination hearings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":167160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-167168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}