Despite his refusal to hold hearings for the recent Supreme Court justice nomination, Sen. Chuck Grassley’s support from Iowa’s Republican voters hasn’t faltered.

by Rebecca Morin  |  [email protected]

Local Republican activist Karen Fesler stands with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and his decision to not hold Supreme Court nomination hearings.

Her reasoning: The highest court in the Land has gone in the wrong direction.

“I think the Supreme Court is a very tenuous position right now,” the Coralville resident said. “This court is more interested in making laws than interpreting the laws. I think the people in this country will let us know which way they want the country to go.”

Fesler was not the only voter to feel that way.

In a series of interviews with Iowa Republicans, they said they believe the Supreme Court has taken on too much power and need a new perspective.

Grassley, who will seek an eighth term in office and is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, refuses to hold hearing for Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland, whom President Obama nominated last week.

As a result, he’s received backlash not only from Iowans but from people nationwide, in addition to top Senate Democrats.

For Iowa’s senior senator, it includes a variety of backlash on social media and even discussions at town halls he holds when he is back in the state, he said. Most recently, a protest was held outside the federal building in Des Moines urging Grassley to “do his job.”

“You’ve got time for the NCAA court, senator, but not the Supreme Court? Talk about March Madness! #DoYourJob,” Will Harte, a high-school cross-country and track coach and Russian teacher from Cedar Rapids, tweeted to Grassley.

“Nice you’re trying to be a man of the people, senator, but men of the people do their jobs,” Susie Olesen from Greenfield, Iowa, tweeted to the senator after he talked about the results of the Iowa teams in the NCAA Tournament.

“Do your job. Help select a new Supreme Court justice. Forget about tweeting trivia,” another Iowan, Julie Schendel of Davenport, tweeted to the senator.

Will Jones, the chairman of Clay County Republicans, which is located in north west Iowa, said he believe not holding hearings is “not a big deal.” Jones, like Fesler, said he is dissatisfied with the state of the court system right now.

“What [Senate Republicans] said is just consistent right now,” he said, noting that if the stance is to wait for the election to be complete, that’s what the congressional leaders should do. “It’s not like this is the first time this has ever happened.”

Pottawattamie County Chairman Jeff Jorgenson said Republicans want to see a Justice appointed that was as much of a “staunch Republican” as the late Justice Antonin Scalia was.

“We would certianly like to see somebody of the same caliber,” he said. “Most Republicans have that same feel”

The Supreme Court has become more of a political entity, Jorgenson said. He added Republicans are willing to “roll the dice” and wait for the presidential election to be over, whether a Republican or a Democrat gets elected to get a solid nominee for the Court instead.

Fesler, who previously held a position on former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum’s presidential campaign and helped pave the way to his caucus win in 2012, said Democrats would make the same decision if the situation was reversed.

“I think there’s much ado about nothing,” she said. “If the Democrats were in charge of the Senate and it was a Republican president, they would be doing the same thing.”

In an interview with The Daily Iowan in Washington, D.C., Grassley listed Democrats who have taken the position on not holding hearings, including from Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Most notably was then-Sen. Joe Biden’s call to not hold hearings for a nominee who might have been nominated by then-President George H.W. Bush. That situation never occurred, but several Republicans have turned to that as a reaffirmation of their decision to not hold hearings.

“Telling the Senate they should not consider a nomination, when you have 30 years of Democrats saying that, I don’t know how people can find fault with us in taking the same position,” Grassley said.

Though some Republican voters said they are displeased with the current Supreme Court, they said if hearings were held, they believe Garland could be confirmed.

Garland has served 19 years in the D.C. circuit and was born and raised in Illinois. He attended Harvard University, then the Harvard Law School. Garland clerked for 2nd Circuit Judge Henry Friendly in addition to Supreme Court Justice William Brennan. He was also a prosecutor in the Justice Department and led the prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombers.

The 63-year-old has received support from both Republicans and Democrats, though Grassley has not supported him in the past.

When asked whether there is any solution in working with Democrats for the Supreme Court nominee, Grassley said it was not about confirming a person.

“There’s a very generic answer I have to give you,” he said. “This is not about a person. This is about the principle of letting the people have a voice, see. You got to do what’s right.”