Chuck Grassley is in quarantine, and it could change the outcome of an important vote
Yesterday, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown lectured Republican Senator Dan Sullivan for refusing to wear a mask during a Senate hearing. Sullivan responded like a clown. In a reminder that Brown was 100% correct in his concerns, 87 year old Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is now in quarantine after having been exposed to coronavirus.
This is notable for a couple reasons. First, Grassley is very high risk at his age; he’s a lousy Senator and should have retired a long time ago, but he certainly doesn’t deserve to get sick or die. We hope he didn’t actually contract the virus, and that if he did, he recovers.
Second, Mitch McConnell is trying to ram through an utterly deranged candidate named Judy Shelton to the Federal Reserve. Three Republican Senators have already decided to vote “no.” Now that Grassley is in quarantine, McConnell has lost a fourth vote, meaning he’s now down to 49 votes and can’t currently confirm Shelton.
What’s more, CNN’s Manu Raju just pointed out that because Democrat Mark Kelly defeated Martha McSally in a special election, he’s set to take office within days. If Kelly is sworn in before Grassley gets out of quarantine, and the three Republican “no” votes remain “no” votes, McConnell might not ever get his chance to confirm Shelton – which would be a good thing for the country.
