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ISU Professor: History Sets Precedent for Scheduling SCOTUS Nomination Hearings

Senator Charles Grassley at a town hall meeting at the Onawa Public Library

Senator Chuck Grassley is caught in the middle of the controversy over whether or not to hold hearings on D.C. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Jim McCormick, political science professor at Iowa State University says that the move to block hearings on the nomination is “odd.”

“Republicans are saying they are being strict constitutionalists,” says McCormick. “But it’s odd to say that when you have a President of one party and a Senate of a different party, that the Senate should block the appointments of the President that is in the white house.”

During this hour of River to River, host Ben Kieffer talks with McCormick and Steffen Schmidt, university professor of political science at Iowa State University.

Republicans have argued that there is no timeline on which the Senate has to schedule hearings according to the Constitution. Schmidt points out that while that may be true, there is still precedent.

“If you go back, the constitution may not say anything, but history says how long it should take for a president to nominate someone and for the senate to confirm it,” says Schmidt. 

Lindsey Moon is IPR's Senior Digital Producer
Ben Kieffer is the host of IPR's River to River