Washington (CNN) Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley on Friday suggested the lack of women on the committee was due to its heavy workload, but later said the committee is a lot of work for male senators as well.

When asked why there aren't more female senators on the committee, the Iowa Republican said: "Well, it's a lot of work. Don't forget, compared to a lot of committee meetings, we have an executive every Thursday. ... So it's a lot of work. Maybe they don't want to do it."

When asked if he wants to see a woman added to the committee, Grassley said, "Well, we can't do anything about that."

"First of all, the people of the states elect women or men. So you've gotta go by that. And then you've gotta have a desire to serve. And my chief of staff of maybe three years tells me that we've tried to recruit women and we couldn't get the job done."

The makeup of the committee has been particularly relevant during Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanugh's nomination process. Kavanaugh was accused by Christine Blasey Ford of committing sexual and physical assault more than 30 years ago when they were at a party during their high school years.

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