Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) got an earful at a town hall in Iowa on Tuesday, as constituents wanted to know why he isn’t doing more to hold President Donald Trump and his administration accountable amid a standoff with the Supreme Court.
Several attendees at the Fort Madison, Iowa, event pressed Grassley, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, about the Trump administration’s defiance of a unanimous Supreme Court order telling the White House to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador that has a reputation for torture.
“The framers of the Constitution said that every person — not citizen— every person within the jurisdiction of the United States has due process. … We would like to know what you, as the Congress, who are supposed to rein in this dictator, what are you going to do?” a man asked Grassley. “Why won’t you do your job, senator?”
“Trump’s not obeying the Supreme Court. He just ignores them!” another attendee shouted at the senator.
“You took an oath, ‘I do solemnly swear and affirm,’ do you remember that, sir?” added a man in a red cap. “Will you act upon your oath?”
But Grassley sidestepped their questions, echoing the Trump administration’s dubious arguments that there’s nothing the U.S. can do to return Abrego Garcia since El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele ― a Central American authoritarian and Trump ally who visited the White House on Monday ― declared it would be “preposterous” to do so.
“El Salvador is an independent country. The president of that country is not subject to our U.S. Supreme Court,” Grassley said on Tuesday.
His comments were received with boos and jeers, so Grassley pivoted instead to highlighting his bipartisan bill that would reassert Congress’ authority over levying tariffs, another sore topic in the room amid economic turmoil over Trump’s trade policies.
“I’m trying to recapture the constitutional authority of Article I, Section 8 to regulate interstate and foreign commerce,” Grassley said, but that effort was met with more jeers.
Attendees at the event also grilled Grassley over cuts Republicans are planning to make to Medicaid and federal food assistance to help finance a massive $5 trillion tax cut package later this year.
“I think the general population is sick and tired of hearing about the tax cuts for the wealthy. … When you start nitpicking about whether some single mom or single dad or somebody with somebody in prison is getting $70 too much food stamps — it doesn’t even buy you anything at the grocery store,” a woman told Grassley.
Grassley said Senate Republicans were considering raising marginal tax rates on millionaires to help pay for their agenda and possibly expand the child tax credit, a controversial idea in GOP circles that is already facing opposition. He acknowledged it ultimately may not become reality.
The 91-year-old senator is one of the few Republicans willing to hold town halls this year amid widespread anger over the Trump administration’s policies. Nearly every other GOP lawmaker in the House and Senate is skipping public events, prompting Democrats to hold “empty chair” town halls on their behalf.
“In both red and blue communities, people are sick and tired of Donald Trump and Elon Musk destroying the economy, threatening health care and Social Security, and making life worse for families,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in a statement last week.
Read the full article here
