Judiciary chairman: ‘Another day, another tantrum’ over SCOTUS

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) dismissed criticism Monday from the Senate’s top Democrat over the GOP’s Supreme Court strategy, suggesting the comments were “another day and another tantrum.”  

“It doesn’t how much the minority leader jumps up and down, how much the minority leader stomps his feat, we aren’t going to let liberals get away with denying the American people an opportunity to be heard,” the Judiciary chairman said, referring to comments from Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

{mosads}The Iowa Republican warned that naming a liberal justice to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat would likely put previous decisions on the First and Second Amendments at risk, and make it more likely the court would loosen abortion restrictions

“If the American people elect a liberal as their next president and he or she nominates a like-minded judge … liberalism will be imposed on the American people to a degree this country has never before witnessed,” Grassley added. 

His comments came after Reid said on the Senate floor that the strategy to block Obama’s forthcoming Supreme Court nominee from getting a hearing or vote would overshadow any other actions taken by Republican senators during their careers.

“If [Grassley] keeps his current obstruction, history will not be kind to his tenure as chairman of the committee,” the Democratic leader said. “He should simply do his job. If he doesn’t, history will never forget this unprecedented misstep.”

Reid and other top Democrats have repeatedly come to the Senate floor since Republicans announced they wouldn’t take up Obama’s nominee as part of an effort to build public pressure on them to change their strategy. 

Grassley said late last week that Reid’s frequent criticisms from the Senate floor amounted to “childish tantrums.”