Sen. Grassley blocks judges, tells Schumer: ‘Put that in your pipe and smoke it’

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) blocked a Democratic effort on Thursday to confirm three U.S. district judges. 

 

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wanted to confirm three judges from his home state. He tried to get unanimous consent for the nominations of Ann Donnelly and LaShann Moutique DeArcy Hall for the Eastern District of New York and of Lawrence Vilardo for the Western District of New York.

 

{mosads}But Grassley blocked him, arguing that the Senate has confirmed more judges during President Obama’s time in office compared to the same point in President George W. Bush’s tenure. 

 

“We’re doing a little bit better than the pace that was set on the other side,” said Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

 

The Iowa Republican added that there are other judicial nominations ahead of those Schumer wanted to confirm and that the Senate would vote on its next judicial nominee once it returns from the August recess. 

 

But Schumer countered that the Senate had confirmed 25 judges at this point in 2007 compared to five so far this year. 

“In January the distinguished and newly minted majority leader came before this body and said it was time to govern. We would do the budget by regular order. Things would return to normal in the Senate. We wouldn’t fill the tree,” the New York Democrat added. “Yet, here we are seven months later and we’ve approved five judges.” 

Grassley blamed the smaller number of judicial nominations on a push by Senate Democrats last year to pass judicial nominations before the end of the year.  

“Had we not confirmed those 11 judicial nominees during the lame duck last year, we’d be roughly at the same place we were for judicial confirmations this year, compared to 2007,” Grassley fired back.

“So put that in your pipe and smoke it, the senator from New York.”