Northwest Iowa — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has now responded to criticism from Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over his refusal to consider President Obama’s U-S Supreme Court nominee. Grassley, a Republican, chairs the committee that reviews court nominees and he says the -next- president should fill the vacancy.
While campaigning in Wisconsin on Monday, Clinton said Grassley is ignoring the 65-million Americans who voted in 2012 to reelect Obama. Grassley says the midterm election of 2014 is also a key factor.
Grassley says the voters in November of 2016 deserve a voice in the future of the nation’s high court, adding, the Senate is doing what it has the “electoral mandate” to do.
Speaking in Madison, Clinton said Grassley should “step up and do his job” and “hold a hearing.” Clinton told the audience Grassley’s tactics are “not high-minded principles, they are low-minded politics.” Grassley, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, responded to the Democratic front-runner.
A statement Monday from the Iowa Democratic Party suggested Grassley is avoiding the public because of the issue, saying he attended no public events in Iowa last week to “shield himself from Iowans’ strong opposition to his Supreme Court obstructionism.” Grassley says he was invited to speak at a Garner factory last week where he faced many more people than he typically encounters at a town hall meeting.
Grassley held two open town meetings in the broadcast area on Monday, one in Ocheyedan and the other in Rock Rapids, and a third Tuesday morning in Orange City.
