The head of the Senate Judiciary Committee canceled votes on nearly two dozen of President Trump’s judicial nominees.
The move Wednesday evening by Sen. Charles Grassley, Iowa Republican, resulted from a standoff in the panel caused by the refusal of Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona to vote for any judicial picks.
Mr. Flake has said he will oppose all judge nominations unless a bill to protect special counsel Robert Mueller gets a floor vote. An effort to force one failed Wednesday.
As a result, the committee’s Thursday business meeting was canceled.
Mr. Grassley’s short statement announcing the cancelation did not specify the reason for it, nor did it have a reschedule date. Six circuit-court and 15 district-court nominees had been expected to come up for votes.
But the Iowa Republican had said earlier Wednesday afternoon that if no deal could be worked out with Mr. Flake, whose defection would let Democrats block the nominees, that he would “probably cancel the meeting.”
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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