Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, on Thursday brushed off the significance of his plan to meet with President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland.
“If I can meet with a dictator in Uganda, I can surely meet with a decent person in America,” Grassley told CNN.
Though Republican Senate leaders had said that they would not even meet with Obama’s nominee, some GOP senators have now expressed willingness to meet with Garland.
Grassley told CNN it was “pretty hard to say no” to a meeting with Garland.
He spoke with the nominee over the phone, and told him that the Senate would not take up a Supreme Court nomination until the next president is elected.
“I want to make it clear that the message we told him on the phone yesterday — I will tell him face-to-face,” the senator told CNN about his upcoming meeting with Garland.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke with Garland over the phone, but will not meet with the nominee.
Grassley also rejected the idea proposed by a couple Republican senators that the chamber could consider Garland during the lame duck session if a Democrat wins the 2016 election.
“It would be intellectually dishonest for me to say that at this point,” he told CNN.
