00:00The blue slip is a long and cherished tradition.
00:15Both Democratic presidents and Republican presidents have asked us to get rid of it.
00:27We never have.
00:30And I hope we never will.
00:34What did you make of the back and forth between Senator Booker and some of his Democratic colleagues,
00:40but also this move to block this bipartisan police legislation?
00:43Well, of course, I support the legislation.
00:46Let me make that clear.
00:48But, frankly, I think the back and forth is healthy.
00:51I think America is better for having a two-party system.
01:01Competition makes all of us better, particularly in the exchange of ideas.
01:06And I believe in the dialectic, where ideas compete in the marketplace of ideas for the American people who decide for themselves.
01:16And I think it's healthy for the Democratic Party.
01:18And I hope they'll do more of that.
01:24You know, I have my own feelings and opinion about the Democratic Party of today.
01:35It's clear that some members of the Democratic Party took a hard left and kept driving.
01:43And there are more moderate members of the party, and they're struggling to define themselves.
01:51And I think that's a good thing.
01:54Over recess, do you worry at all that this Epstein issue is going to be a distraction from talking about the benefits of the one big, beautiful bill?
02:01Well, the Epstein mess is already a distraction.
02:08And it's not a political issue for me.
02:11It's a moral issue.
02:12If adults aren't going to protect our kids, who is?
02:21This guy was a, Epstein was a pig.
02:25P-I-G pig.
02:28And this is, I think we established a long time ago, this is no country for creepy old men.
02:36And I've said this before, I'll say it again.
02:40Epstein, we know, trafficked young women, some of whom were minors.
02:48American people want to know, and they're entitled to know, who, if anyone, he trafficked these women to.
02:57And if there were such people, such men, then why weren't they prosecuted?
03:03And the Justice Department is going to need to answer that.
03:07Now, how they answer that is up to them, but they need to answer it.
03:11But we're packed.
03:14I mean, in some respects, the Justice Department has dug up more snakes than they could kill, okay, in terms of their handling of this.
03:24And I don't think, I think we're beyond the point where they can say, look, trust me, there's nobody else.
03:33I think this, now the American people want to save receipts.
03:36And I want to give them plenty of time, at least one amount of time, to, and I think Congress should, too, to decide how they're going to answer that question.
03:46But I think they're going to have to answer it.
03:48And they should.
03:49What do you make of Democrats invoking the Rule of Five to force the DOJ to release more files related to the action case?
03:55What do you mean the Rule of Five?
03:56Which uses the Homeland Security Panel.
03:59A minimum of five members have to sign on to a letter on Democrats saying they want to do that.
04:03I don't know anything about it.
04:04Okay.
04:04Send me the letter.
04:05I'll read it.
04:06Senator, are you supportive of the idea of modifying the Senate rules in some way to get around these Democratic blockades on nominees?
04:12Well, that's not my first choice.
04:14My first choice is to have my Democratic friends be a little more reasonable.
04:21Look, we've always had in the Senate an understanding by both sides that there are certain nominees of a president that you don't quibble over.
04:33Now, there's some you do fight over, but there's some you don't.
04:37I mean, I don't mean any disrespect to whomever got this job, but having to fight over who's going to be the general counsel of the Department of Defense when that person has an unblemished record is not something the Senate ought to be spending its time on.
04:59It's also that Senator Schumer's obstruction also is having an impact on the work of the Senate.
05:08We've got a lot of bills, bipartisan bills we could bring to the floor.
05:11We don't have the floor time.
05:12We're spending it all doing this stuff.
05:15So my first preference is to have Chuck be a little more reasonable because when he's escalated like this, when the Democrats are back in charge, then it's going to force us to do the same thing.
05:28And it's just not good for the Senate.
05:29My second choice would be to, if we have to, if Chuck makes us, revise the rules because we can't just spend all our time on personnel.
05:40We can't.
05:42And the third option, which to me is the least enticing, is to just say, OK, you know, you asked for it, you'll get it.
05:52We're going to go into recess and let the president make his appointments.
05:56Now, I don't want to do that.
05:58But that, to me, is where this thing's headed.
06:01Some on my side, all of us on my side, are working on a new set of rules to try to address this, to make the nominations go faster.
06:10But I don't think it's going to be done in a short period of time, maybe even a long period of time.
06:19Senators, both Republicans and Democrats, are like cats.
06:23They do what they want.
06:25And for us to agree to a rule is going to take more than, you know, three or four days of discussion.
06:30Senator, I'm certain you've been asked this already, but do you agree with Trump that Grassley should get rid of the blue slips for U.S. attorneys?
06:36I do not agree with the president on that.
06:38I understand his frustration.
06:40President Biden had the same frustration.
06:43I remember Senator Durbin, when he was chair under President Biden, threatening Republicans to get rid of the blue slip.
06:51But Dick never would have.
06:54He was bluffing.
06:56And I knew it was bluffing.
06:58And he knew it was bluffing because it's a cherished and very needed Senate tradition.
07:05Why is it needed?
07:06I'm sorry?
07:07Can you explain why it's needed, why it's important to keep that tradition around?
07:09Yes, because federal district judges, courts of appeal are, well, if I were voting, I wouldn't have given up the blue slip for the courts of appeal.
07:20But particularly for district court judges, senators are much better able to be able to pick a lawyer from their community that satisfies what I call community standards.
07:36And community standards, for me, when I pick a federal judge, I want somebody, of course their ideology matters.
07:43I don't want somebody who's going to try to rewrite the Constitution every other Thursday to advance some social agenda.
07:50But what I try to do is pick men and women so that others in the community will look at it and go,
07:59you know, I maybe don't agree with everything they've ever said or done, but, man, those are damn good lawyers.
08:07And they'll be fair.
08:08And they'll listen to both sides.
08:11That's the goal.
08:12That's who I try to pick anyway.
08:14And presidents are more distant from the states.
08:19They don't have that.
08:20And presidential advisors.
08:21They don't have that community knowledge.
08:24They don't know.
08:26And I think it's a very good thing for the Senate to have input.
08:30And I say this to the president with respect, Mr. President, pretty pleased.
08:36With sugar on top, back off this.
08:39Because I don't think the Senate's going to go long.
08:42And I think it's just a needless fight.
08:44Chuck Grassley's been a good chairman.
08:48He's got a great record at getting the presidential nominees through when they should be gotten through.
08:57That's my two cents worth.
08:59I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
09:02Anything else?
09:03Some of the taxman personnel say that Grassley's too old to be in the Senate, that he should retire.
09:09I don't think he said that.
09:10Some of the retweets from this morning on Truth Social were saying,
09:14Did the president say that?
09:17It was implied in some of the posts that he posted.
09:19I've got to see the tweets.
09:21I don't believe the president would say that.
09:28And if anybody thinks that Chuck Grassley's too old, challenge him to a push-up contest.
09:38Go ahead.
09:40Any one of you.
09:41I double-dog dare you.
09:44Grassley's an amazing guy.
09:49And he's tough as a boot.
09:52He's sharp as a tack.
09:55I've said this before.
09:57When the apocalypse comes and health reaches over, there's going to be two things left.
