Fed up GOP Senator Chuck Grassley puts hold on DOJ nominee until he gets Trump-Russia answers

| 11:32 am EDT March 15, 2017
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Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has had enough of Donald Trump’s Department of Justice stalling on providing updates on the Trump-Russia scandal, and so he’s decided to stall the DOJ. Politico now says the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to hold up the nomination of would-be Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein until the DOJ allows FBI Director James Comey to provide his committee with the level of information on Trump-Russia it wants.

Senator Grassley has aligned himself with his top committee counterpart, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, in now forcefully demanding answers. To some extent this is a reminder that Senators consider themselves influential and don’t like to be told no on things they think are important, even if that means badgering the Executive Branch when it’s occupied by their own party. But it’s also a sign that the Trump-Russia scandal has grown so serious, even Republican Senators are now increasingly looking to get out in front of it.

Grassley’s ultimatum comes at a time when another influential Republican Senator, Lindsey Graham, is threatening to issue a subpoena if the DOJ and FBI don’t imminently provide the information he’s been seeking. Graham has aligned himself with Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse in this regard. Although Democrats in the Senate have unanimously pushed for a serious Trump-Russia investigation from day one, they’ve now gained enough Republican allies to amass a majority on key committees and subcommittees, and begin getting their way.

And this comes after Republican Senator Susan Collins decided last month that the Trump-Russia investigation was a top priority for her, thus shifting the balance of the Senate Intelligence Committee toward taking the matter seriously. Even as the House Intel Committee prepares to hold its first Trump-Russia hearings on Monday, it’s increasingly clear that the (Democratic and now Republican) Senators are the ones Trump really has to worry about. They’re well past the point of taking “no” for an answer when it comes to his Russia scandal. Contribute to Palmer Report