During a conference call with Iowa reporters, Sen. Chuck Grassley addressed the possibility of his colleague, Sen. Joni Ernst replacing Pete Hegseth as President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of defense.
- He also answered questions about the justice department and the nomination of Kash Patel to head the FBI.
- Patel would replace Director Christopher Wray, even though Wray's term isn't supposed to end until 2027.
- Grassley told reporters he wants a new FBI director to restore trust in the agency and the justice department.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I'm Southwest Iowa reporter Katrina Markel.
On Wednesday, secretary of defense nominee, Pete Hegseth, visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill as rumors swirled that he was losing support. On a conference call with Iowa reporters, Sen. Chuck Grassley weighed in on Hegseth, his thoughts on the possibility of Joni Ernst taking that role, and Trump's nominee to lead the FBI.
Grassley: "I think it's premature to talk about another nominee"
Hegseth faces accusations of sexual assault and alcohol misuse. Grassley said he won't meet with Hegseth until January and hasn't made up his mind about the nominee.
He also praised Ernst's experience as a combat veteran and on the Senate Armed Forces Committee.
Grassley: "And I think that, that gives her all of the recommendations a person would need to be a leader in national defense, but right now, we have a nominee. "
He was asked about Trump's nomination of lawyer Kash Patel to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray. In Grassley's view the FBI field offices, such as the one in Omaha, do good work but the FBI administration in Washington D.C needs reform. He thinks Patel is reform-minded.
Grassley: "I'm going to make my judgment on the fact that we don't further have political interference in the work of the FBI."
I asked him about Patel's unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen and his threats to "come after" the people he claims rigged the election.
Katrina: “I'm curious, given your desire for reform and your desire to restore trust in that agency, do you have concerns about those kinds of comments?”
Grassley: "The things you bring up about the nominee are things of the past and I'm looking at somebody that can be forceful in reestablishing public confidence in the FBI."
Grassley also addressed the farm bill. He says there will be another one-year extension of the 2018 bill rather than a new, five-year bill.
