ICYMI: Grassley Talks Oversight, Whistleblower Protection, Bipartisanship and More on “Jason in the House” Podcast

ICYMI: Grassley Talks Oversight, Whistleblower Protection, Bipartisanship and More on "Jason in the House" Podcast

"Nobody works harder and is smarter at doing it than Chuck Grassley."

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined former Rep. Jason Chaffetz's (R-Utah) "Jason in the House" podcast to kick off "Sunshine Week" with a discussion on congressional oversight and his work to protect whistleblowers. Grassley also discussed the importance of bipartisanship, his Iowa roots, setting the standard for representative government and more.

"Senator, you've been a pillar of integrity and [have] a work ethic that is enviable and admirable in every way," Chaffetz said. "To the good people of Iowa: thanks for sending Senator Grassley [to the U.S. Senate], because nobody works harder and is smarter at doing it than Chuck Grassley."

Listen to the full interview HERE. Excerpts follow.

AUDIO

On the importance of congressional oversight:

"I learned checks and balances in eighth grade civics, and I know that we not only pass laws and we appropriate money, but we have a responsibility to make sure that any Republican or any Democrat president faithfully executes those laws.

"So, I've come to the conclusion that a great deal of productive time can be spent on oversight. And that started way back in my first term in Congress, when I was going after fraud in the Defense Department. We got the False Claims Act [amendments] passed. That has brought in $85 billion of [fraudulently] taken money. But beyond that, it's just our responsibility to make sure that we're a check on the president and that the president faithfully executes the laws."

On protecting whistleblowers:

"I've developed a good reputation for protecting whistleblowers. And these whistleblowers...are very patriotic people. They just want the federal government to do what the law says they should do [and] spend the money the way Congress intended to spend it. And when they see something wrong, and they go to [higher ups] in their agency, and nothing happens, then they end up being an official whistleblower, because they come to Chuck Grassley or people like Jason Chaffetz... I'll bet you 80% to 90% of the ideas I get to investigate...that information comes from whistleblowers.

"When some cabinet person or agency head comes to my office because they want me to vote for their confirmation, I always preach to them about listening to whistleblowers - because where they got a few hundred people in their agency, or hundreds of thousands of people in their agency, as head of that agency, they don't know what's going on below, and they should listen [to] whistleblowers. If these people I'm talking to that are head of these agencies would listen to their whistleblowers, there wouldn't be any need for Chuck Grassley to protect whistleblowers, because the action would be taken where it should be taken within the agency, and not because Senator Grassley gets on them to do what's right...

"I don't find as much prosecution as I find whistleblowers that are actually fired or hurt professionally because they sincerely [reported] a wrongdoing and then [were] fired for it.

"So far, since [President Trump's] new term…we've had the cooperation of President Trump's people at lower levels to get 16 [whistleblowers] that were fired, mostly in the Biden administration - get their job[s] back… [You've] just got to have a reputation for following through and helping people."

On changes to the Senate schedule:

"When I first came here, we started at 10:00 a.m. on Monday morning and went until 4:00 [p.m.] on Friday afternoon. Now, the first vote is 5:00 [p.m.] on Monday. We work all day Tuesday [and] all day Wednesday, but by midafternoon on Thursday, we're all [done].

"So, I tell people…there's enough work for an individual senator to [work] seven days a week if he wants to, all by himself. But you don't solve [this] country's problems until you get 100 senators together in a body. We've got so many problems - you've got to be working more than two and a half days a week."

On bipartisanship:

"Over the last 10 or 15 years, we've [developed] too much partisanship, and I like to explain that the cause of this may be partly because the voters have divided our country into red and blue. That's one thing. [We've] ended up with all the conservatives - except for three or four - being in the Republican caucus, and all the progressives or socialists being in the Democrat caucus.

"But when I first came here…the Republican caucus would have a good amount of moderate and conservatives divided - not exactly even, but a lot of moderates. And then the Democrat Party would have moderates and very progressive people, and they solved a lot of things within their caucus before it ever got to the floor. Now, it's just more difficult to build bipartisanship.

"I get this question at the back of the courtroom [at town meetings] in Iowa. [Constituents ask,] 'How come [Democrats and Republicans] can't get along?' They get the impression from our media today that Republicans don't talk to Democrats and vice versa. That's not true.

"People are losing faith in government...because of all the negative media that comes out [where] they always emphasize disagreement. They never emphasize agreement. I'll give you an example: three weeks ago, out of my Judiciary Committee, we had updated social media criminal law with three or four bills that got out of committee with bipartisanship on a voice vote and attached to a House bill. And the House likes the bills we pass[ed], so [the package] should get to the president updating our criminal law. And you never hear reports about that - but if Chuck Grassley and [Dick] Durbin are fighting about immigration, then it hits the news."

On Grassley's upbringing and his Iowa roots:

"I live now within four miles of the farmhouse I was born in... I lived on that farm until I was married at age 20. I was also a college student when I got married.

"And I grew up in a family that was not politically active, but I got my interest in politics when I was in grade school, because at the supper table, my mom and dad were always talking about American history, or maybe history generally. They were always talking about something that dealt with government, and I don't want to say it was extreme left or right political discussions. There probably wasn't much of that. It was just talking about what's going on in the world.

"So, I knew when I got out of high school that I was either going to be a college professor of political science, or I was going to be an [elected official]. And so, I majored in political science and history at the University of Northern Iowa, and then I started working on a PhD at the University of Iowa. But at age 25, I was elected to the legislature.

"You may be thinking that at age 18, I knew I was going to be a U.S. senator. No, I didn't. I just knew that I wanted to be in elected office or teach government... I served [in the state legislature for] 16 years, and [then] a [U.S.] congressman of 30 years retired, and I was elected in the Watergate scandal of 1974. I was the only Republican in the congressional delegation; I imagine that's the first time that had ever happened in the history of Iowa. We thought the Republican Party was dead in 1974. [After] six years in the U.S. House, I ran for the Senate, and Reagan was elected. I was elected, and we elected 16 brand new Republican senators - and all of a sudden, I was in the majority.

"Now you may wonder...how did I get into farming...? Well, my dad died in 1960, and [my] mom wanted to stay on the family farm, and I was the only person in the family to take on that responsibility. That's how I became a farmer. During my years in the [state] legislature, I farmed 80 acres, [and then] eventually 200 acres…

"On an 80-acre farm in the 1960s, you couldn't make a living, so I was an assembly line worker putting screw holes in furnace registers at Waterloo Register [in] Cedar Falls, Iowa, a company that no longer exists. But it paid for me to stay in the legislature and operate a family farm.

"When I went to the University of Northern Iowa, we didn't have student loan programs like we do now, and so...I worked 40 hours a week at the Rath Packing Company, which slaughtered pigs, cattle and sheep… I worked...five days a week, [and] that paid for my education."

On lessons learned from his parents:

"From my mother, I learned to always tell the truth, and [if you do,] you don't have to worry about what you tell somebody else.

"From [my] dad, I learned hard work, because milking cows by hand and everything else you do on the farm is not easy work."

On his 99 county meetings:

"[I go] to each one of the 99 counties every year to have a Q&A with constituents. Those Q&As take a variety of environments - sometimes an open town meeting at the courthouse [or] sometimes on a factory floor, if they'll shut down the assembly line [and] let their workers gather around me...

"I went to 13 counties [last month]...when we were in recess. I think I went to three or four high schools, because you never get people under 18 years of age coming to your town meetings. So, if I want to have opinions from young people, I've got to go to them. Just like the factory workers that can't get off work, I go to them. Just like the people that work in the hospital."

On the secret to a successful marriage:

"[We've been married] 71 years. Always say yes."

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