Chuck Grassley seems to think the GOP is four votes short on Brett Kavanaugh
It’s been a chaotic day in the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination process, and it’s far from clear what’s going on. We’ve seen Jeff Flake once again seeking the counsel of Democratic Senator Chris Coons, Ben Sasse (probably falsely) claiming he’s still undecided, and obscure Republican Senator Steve Daines suddenly claiming he can’t be in town for the weekend. Now Chuck Grassley, who has no poker face at all, is appearing to admit that he thinks the GOP is four votes short.
Here’s what Chuck Grassley said today about the Senate whip count: “I know that we don’t have a chance to get Heitkamp now and I thought we did. Maybe one or two Democrats got a chance? And I haven’t heard from four Republicans.” This quote came by way of the Washington Post. Let’s parse what he’s talking about here.
Grassley cannot be trusted to tell the truth in general, but he has a habit of publicly blurting out these kinds of things when he probably wasn’t supposed to. Red state Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp announced today that she’s a “no” vote, leaving Joe Manchin as the only red state Democrat who is still undecided, though there is no reason to believe that he would cast a deciding “yes” vote. Of more interest here is Grassley’s reference to the four Republicans.
Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski are probably three of the four. If so, who’s the fourth? Is Grassley referring to Ben “I’m pretending I’m undecided” Sasse, or Steve “I suddenly remembered my daughter is getting married this weekend” Daines? Perhaps he’s referring to GOP Senator Cory Gardner, who – according to multiple major news outlets, has spent the day conspicuously holding meetings with sexual assault victims. Grassley’s reference to the four Republicans, within the context of suggesting that he needs Democratic votes, suggests that he thinks he doesn’t have the votes.
