Senate

Grassley accuses Reid of ‘pure unfiltered partisanship’

by Jordain Carney - 09/28/16 7:32 PM ET

Sen. Chuck Grassley lashed out Wednesday at Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), accusing him of playing politics by blocking a recent sweep of GOP bills.

“The Democrat leader’s actions in recent weeks blocking these other bipartisan — and let me emphasize, noncontroversial bills — is pure unfiltered partisanship. It’s election-year politics at its very worst,” the Iowa Republican said from the Senate floor.

{mosads}Grassley added that Reid is “using political gamesmanship to hold up noncontroversial as well as bipartisan legislation by mostly Republican members who are up for reelection this year. Why isn’t the so-called objective media reporting on this?”

Reid blocked a bipartisan bill last week from Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to crack down on animal abuse, citing the stalled fight over Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.

The outgoing Senate Democratic leader also blocked a bill from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on Wednesday on access to experimental drugs for terminally ill individuals, and a separate proposal from Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) on first responders.

Both last week and on Wednesday, Reid asked if the GOP senators would modify their requests to pass their bills by unanimous consent to also allow for a vote on Garland. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) objected last week, while Portman objected Wednesday on behalf of McConnell.

Portman, Johnson and Toomey are each up for reelection in November in purple states previously carried by President Obama.

Reid fired back at Grassley Wednesday evening, saying he has “a lot of nerve to complain about our side blocking legislation.”

“The senior senator from Iowa is looking for pure unfiltered partisanship. Next time he combs his hair or shaves, look in the mirror, that’s where he’ll see it,” he said.

The two have traded rhetorical barbs since Garland was nominated in March to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

Democrats have homed in on the stalled Supreme Court fight since returning from the August recess, including threatening to hold up committee hearings and inviting Garland back to the Capitol for a second round of meetings with leadership.

Reid said Grassley, as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, “has written the book on obstruction of nominations.”

GOP leadership has pledged to block Garland’s confirmation this year, refusing to give him a hearing or a vote. Grassley, and other lawmakers, argue they are following the “Biden rule.”

The reference is to a 1992 speech given by Vice President Biden, then a senator from Delaware, who said the Senate should not proceed with any Supreme Court nomination made by incumbent President George H.W. Bush until after that year’s presidential election.

Tags Chuck Grassley Harry Reid Mitch McConnell Rob Portman Ron Johnson