By Woody Gottburg - Jan 3, 2017


Committee chairman Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) arrives for a hearing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldana before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill December 2, 2015 in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP / BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa was sworn in on Tuesday to his 7th term in the senate.

Grassley anticipates one of his first orders of business will be the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama as the new Attorney General.

Grassley expects two days of hearings on Sessions next week followed by a likely floor vote on his confirmation right after President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

A list of 21 names of likely Supreme Court nominees is circulating and Grassley says he’s been studying the list carefully.

Grassley endured much grief during 2016 for refusing to hold hearings on President Obama’s nominee for the high court.

He says his list of priorities for legislation he’d like to see approved in 2017 includes several familiar items from 2016 and some that are older.

Immigration reform will also be in the forefront, and while Republicans will soon control both the U-S House, Senate and the White House, Grassley knows it won’t be a cake walk for his party.

Grassley believes the House will be productive in sending dozens of major pieces of legislation to the Senate, but acknowledges it will “take a while for the Senate to work their way through those.”

The G-O-P holds a 54-to-44 majority over Democrats in the Senate, with two Independents.

http://kscj.com/2017/01/03/grassley-...s-senate-term/