Posted on 10/31/2019 8:16:23 AM PDT by jazusamo
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is planning to take back the gavel of the influential Judiciary Committee if Republicans keep control of the Senate after the 2020 election.
Grassley chaired the Judiciary Committee for four years, from 2015 to 2019, but handed over the top spot to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in January so that he could take over the Finance Committee.
But under Senate GOP rules, Grassley hits his term limit for the finance panel at the end of 2020. He's informed Graham that he intends to use his seniority to become chairman of the Judiciary Committee starting in 2021.
"He has, I think, two more years," Graham told The Hill on Thursday. "I'd honor any request that he wants to make."
Grassley, who can serve an additional two years as Judiciary Committee chairman according to Senate GOP caucus rules, separately told Bloomberg that he wants to chair the Judiciary Committee again.
Spokesmen for Grassley didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Grassley previously steered the panel though multiple high-profile fights, including the confirmation battles over Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, Trump's two Supreme Court picks.
Graham took over the Judiciary Committee in January, giving him a high-profile perch as he runs for re-election in the deeply red state of South Carolina.
Graham, one of Trump's biggest allies in the Senate, has used the committee to push through Trump's judicial nominees, which was considered to be one of the biggest priorities for the GOP-controlled Senate. His involvement on judicial nominations has earned him praise from conservatives and helped squash any talk of a serious primary challenge.
He's also threatened to use the committee as a counterpoint to the impeachment investigations in the House, including digging into the origins of the Russia investigation and exploring GOP questions about Ukraine and the Bidens.
He probably wants to break Strom Thurmond’s record.
Yep, he turned 86 last September
I thought he did a pretty fair job of managing the Kavanaugh circus. Could have gone much worse.
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