Sen. Charles Grassley, right, talks with committee member Sen. Charles Schumer. 'Put that in your pipe and smoke it,' Grassley tells Schumer on judges

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley had a sharp retort for Democrats complaining about the pace of judicial confirmations this year: “Put that in your pipe and smoke it.”

The Iowa Republican’s remark came during a tit-for-tat with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on the Senate floor on Thursday, as the two senators were tussling over the GOP Senate’s rate of confirming judges.


Schumer, the third-ranking Senate Democrat, spoke first, noting that the judicial vacancy rate throughout the United States is at 10 percent and 28 districts are considered judicial emergencies.

“Under the new Republican Senate, more than half a year into this new Congress, the Republican leadership has scheduled votes on only five federal judges,” Schumer said. “It’s July. They’ve scheduled votes on five federal judges. That … is a disgrace.”

In comparison, at the same point in President George W. Bush’s second term, the Democratic-led Senate had confirmed 25 judges, Schumer noted.

Grassley, whose powerful committee oversees judicial nominations, threw out his own numbers. So far under President Barack Obama, the Senate has confirmed 317 judicial nominees, while Bush had 283 approved by the Senate at the same point in his presidency.

The Judiciary Committee chairman also raised an argument he has made before: that the outgoing Democratic-controlled Senate pushed through the confirmations of 11 judges in last year’s lame-duck session — nominees that Grassley said should have been considered at the start of this year.

“Had we not confirmed those 11 judicial nominees during the lame duck last year, we’d be roughly at the same pace we were for judicial confirmations this year compared to 2007,” Grassley said. “So put that in your pipe and smoke it, the senator from New York. So we’re moving at a reasonable pace.”

Schumer retorted: “Without smoke, Mr. President, I yield the floor.”