Less than a month into Donald Trump’s second term, as Elon Musk and the White House’s DOGE operation sparked a national controversy, Sen. Chuck Grassley said the public shouldn’t look to Capitol Hill for solutions. “Congress can’t do anything except complain,” the Iowa Republican told reporters.
Strictly speaking, that wasn’t altogether true. As the Department of Government Efficiency incrementally dismantled parts of the federal government and pushed federal workers into unemployment, the Republican-led Congress had the power to intervene. It just chose not to. The idea that lawmakers had no choice but to throw up their hands in frustration — rather than, say, exercise their oversight authority — was difficult to take seriously.
This came to mind nearly a year later, as HuffPost’s Igor Bobic asked Grassley whether it was appropriate for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to enter homes without judicial warrants.
“Ask a constitutional lawyer,” the GOP senator reportedly replied. “I’m a farmer.”
Whether or not one is inclined to describe the 92-year-old Iowan as “a farmer,” he also has a very different kind of title: Grassley is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which should probably take at least some interest in the question of whether ICE agents should be able to enter American homes without a warrant.
Indeed, after more than 44 years working as a federal lawmaker, Grassley is the longest-serving senator currently on Capitol Hill, and he’s the sixth-longest-serving senator in the history of the United States.
The idea that he has an agricultural background, which in turn precludes him from taking a position on a key legal issue, is folly. But Grassley’s response is emblematic of broader concerns related to the GOP-led Congress and its relative indifference to the Trump administration’s tactics and abuses.
If the Judiciary Committee chairman wanted to defend the president’s agenda, it would at least open the door to a substantive conversation. But to answer key questions with a shrug is to offer a timely reminder about the current Congress’ willingness to embrace its own irrelevance.
