File this under Not even remotely surprising:
Eligible to pick among a trio of committee chairmanships in the coming Republican-majority U.S. Senate, Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley has settled on the powerful Judiciary Committee.
“Oversight is too often overlooked as Congress focuses on new legislation,” Grassley told The Des Moines Register in a statement this morning. “So, anybody who knows my efforts in this area will understand that the Judiciary Committee’s work will reflect that sentiment. My goal is to promote transparency and accountability and restore the committee’s role as a true check on the massive and powerful federal bureaucracy.”
…Also, it will give Chuck Grassley endless opportunities over the next two years to put trial lawyers through pluperfect hell (thank you, Larry Niven). As the sarcastic Tweet below references, back during the campaign Bruce Braley pretty much doomed his Senate chances by telling a bunch of out-of-state trial lawyers that if Braley wasn’t elected then an Iowa farmer would be chairing Judiciary. And lo! Braley was a prophet, apparently. This is a remarkable opportunity for Sen. Grassley to simultaneously make his name shine among conservatives and make life miserable for a reliably Democratic (and not very well-liked) demographic: one hopes that he will take up this challenge with both hands, and swing it. Continue reading Grassley’s revenge? Here’s hoping.