Word is that Senator Grassley is fighting to succeed Arlen Specter as the lead Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, even at the same time that he would maintain his ranking role on the Finance Committee.
Grassley usually votes right, and I have a lot of respect for him, but I seriously question whether he has the ideal skill set to be the lead Republican on the Judiciary Committee. My concern isn’t that he’s not a lawyer—there are lots of non-lawyers who have a much better understanding of constitutional law than most lawyers. It’s that he has never demonstrated any real understanding of, or even interest in, the grand debates over the role of the Courts. And he is not the most effective questioner on legal issues.