Sen. Chuck Grassley Says There’re No Women On Judiciary Committee Because “They Don’t Want To Do The Work”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley drew criticism over the weekend after he explained why he believes there are no women serving on the all-white, all-male GOP side of the panel, but the Iowa Republican later clarified his controversial remark.

While speaking to reporters on Friday, Grassley suggested female lawmakers aren’t capable of handling the workload associated with serving on the Judiciary Committee.

“It’s a lot of work — maybe they don’t want to do it,” said Grassley on Friday. “My chief of staff of 33 years tells me we’ve tried to recruit women and we couldn’t get the job done.”

The Iowa senator later walked back his comment in an interview with Fox News on Saturday by saying: “We have a hard time getting men on the committee. It’s just a lot of work whether you’re a man or a woman, it doesn’t matter.”

Grassley was one of the 50 senators who voted to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court over the weekend.

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The Committee Chairman continued: “What I should have done, in one sentence I should have said we even had a hard time getting men to serve on this committee.”

Grassley added: “It’s not something whether you’re male or female. There really is a lot of work on the committee, there’s more controversy to it, and it’s more politically and ideologically divided than most committees. And a lot of people, man or woman, don’t want to get mixed up with that.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, was among several people to slam Grassley for his remarks. Pelosi called out President Donald Trump on Twitter for mocking Kavanaugh’s first sexual assault accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, and also criticized Grassley for “blaming” Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top-ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.