News Releases

Q&A on Military Reform Q:        What’s held up the Defense Authorization bill? A:       Action stalled in November on the $625 billion defense bill because the Democratic leader refused to agree on allowing additional amendments, beyond those he supports, to be considered during floor...

Extending the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988              Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following statement on extending the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988.               “The...

Increase in Federal Contractor Salaries Highlights Need for Legislative Fix Washington, D.C. – A bipartisan group of four U.S. Senators today released the following statement expressing their objections with the newly increased allowable level for taxpayer-funded contractor compensation: “We are deeply troubled by the December 4 announcement by the Office...

Strengthening Military Whistleblower Protections As the Senate debates the Defense Authorization bill, I introduced with several colleagues an amendment to strengthen military whistleblower protection laws to ensure those who report sexual assault and other misconduct are not further victimized by retaliation.  There’s plenty of evidence that military...

  Report Shows Possible Audit Misconduct at Defense Department     It appears that the Defense Department’s flagship accounting agency, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), is suffering its own audit woes, despite receiving clean bills of health on its own financial statements from an outside qualified government...

EPA Bypasses Rule-making Procedures, Gets Caught Federal rule-making procedures are important for holding the federal government accountable to the public.  Federal agencies wield tremendous power.  The way they decide to interpret and enforce federal law through rules and regulations has significant ramifications for the affected parties, whether...

Unfinished Business During the tugs of war that crop up in Washington during political debates and policymaking, it’s not surprising the act of legislating has often been compared to the art of sausage making.  The give-and-take that has long characterized the legislative meat grinder on Capitol Hill has been put on the chopping block. Consider an...

  Grassley Comments on USDA Breakdown of Actively Engaged Data     Senator Chuck Grassley made the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture made available additional information about farm payments being received by general partnerships and joint ventures through people using the “active personal management only.” The...

EPA decision to continue violating Administrative Procedure Act The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has decided to enforce guidance on wastewater treatment as if it were a binding rule without going through the proper rulemaking process for all areas of the country except for the 8th Circuit, where it lost a court case.  Earlier, the EPA confirmed...

Obamacare Enrollment Date Shift Hides Key Information from Voters Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on the Obamacare open enrollment date shift for next year. “Last night at 8:29, CMS put out a notice that it is shifting the start of open enrollment next year from October 1, 2014, to November 15, 2014.  That means that if...

  Grassley Reports on Possible Audit Misconduct at Defense Department     DFAS steamrolls IG on oversight, Claims clean bill of health                 WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today said that the Department of Defense’s flagship accounting agency, the Defense...

Q&A on FISA Q: What is FISA? A: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 is more commonly known by its acronym FISA.  The law sets the parameters by which America’s intelligence community may conduct physical and electronic surveillance of those suspected of espionage or terrorism.  Until the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many Americans...

Doing Whatever It Takes - Majority Changes the Senate Rules Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Judiciary On the Majority’s Change to the Senate Rules Thursday, November 21, 2013 Mr. President, I’d like to spend a few minutes discussing the Majority Leader’s employment of the so-called “Nuclear...

Majority Leader Threatens Nuclear Option Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following statement about the Majority Leader’s threat to invoke the so-called nuclear option on judicial nominations. “It appears the Majority Leader is now trying to convince his caucus that somehow he’d be able to change the rules...

Grassley Helps Honor Iowans in Ceremony for Native American Code Talkers WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today helped to honor members of the Meskwaki Nation at a congressional gold medal ceremony honoring the Native American code talkers who served the United States in military conflicts including World Wars I and II.   “The ceremony was...

Floor Statement of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley on the Gillibrand Military Justice Improvement Act Amendment I would like to reiterate my strong support for Senator Gillibrand’s reforms to the Military Justice System.  I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the Military Justice Improvement Act and I should add that it has been a pleasure working with...

Senators Introduce Amendment to Protect Military Whistleblowers Military Whistleblower Protection Act will ensure victims of sexual assault and other misconduct are protected from retaliation WASHINGTON - U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced proposals today to strengthen military...

Grassley Continues Work for Passage of Military Justice Reform for Sexual Assault Cases AIR FORCE MAJOR GENERAL (RET.) MARTHA RAINVILLE, ARMY BRIGADIER GENERAL (RET.) LOREE SUTTON, IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN VETERANS OF AMERICA, VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA, SERVICE WOMEN'S ACTION NETWORK, SURVIVOR/PROTECT OUR DEFENDERS ADVOCACY COMMITTEE KATE WEBER, SARAH...

Working to Protect Whistleblowers in Criminal Antitrust Cases The Senate has passed legislation I introduced with Senator Patrick Leahy that would extend whistleblower protection for private sector employees who provide information to the Department of Justice related to criminal antitrust violations.  The bill must still be considered by the House of...

Using the D.C. Circuit to Divert Attention from the Real Crisis of Health Care Reform Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee On the Motion to invoke Cloture on the nomination of Robert Wilkins, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit Monday, November 18, 2013 Mr....