A lot of people have underrated Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and point man in the ongoing reshaping of the federal judiciary, perhaps the most lasting legacy of the Trump presidency. Senator Grassley is a bit of a slow-talker, is the very model of courtesy, and makes no effort whatsoever to convince other people how smart he is. To the pretentious snobs that set the tone on the left, he is therefore a non-entity.

They dismiss him at their peril, and have just been outsmarted by him. William Jacobson of Legal Insurrection explains:

You may recall that just after Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, Democrats agreed to confirm 15 federal judicial nominees in exchange for Mitch McConnell putting the Senate in recess so that vulnerable Senate Dems could return home to campaign.

#TheResistance was upset. While they can’t stop nominees, they demand resistance for resistance sake. But Senate Democrats had other priorities. (snip)

Before you can get to a floor vote, you need a Committee vote. And before you can get a Committee vote, you need a Committee hearing.

So, the Senate Judiciary Committee has continued to hold hearings on nominees. lining up more Committee votes for just after the midterms.

There’s nothing except custom preventing hearings during a recess. Apparently, the Dems forgot that.

And customary courtesy is dead in the Senate, as the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings demonstrated. So, the judiciary committee rolls on with its confirmations. Democrats are free to stop campaigning and attend hearings if they want to.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore