US Senator Charles Grassley has been in the spotlight after he declared that he is delaying confirmation hearings to fill a vacancy on the US Supreme Court, following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Raccoon Valley Radio caught up with the Senator to have him share his thoughts on the issue. Grassley says there is an unwritten rule that in an election year where the president can’t be re-elected, then the decision would fall onto the next president.

However, he explains what may happen going forward, if the next president is a Democrat and the Republicans remain in control of the Senate.

“I would have to go by what I said now that the new president ought to have an opportunity to do it. I wouldn’t be justified in holding it up and not having a hearing and moving forward, I would have to do that. That doesn’t mean that I would vote for that person, but it would mean that we would have to bring it up for a hearing and discussion and final action on the floor of the United States Senate.”

But until then, Grassley is adamant that he will not hold a hearing if the automatic outcome is going to be to deny a potential candidate.

Grassley’s seat is also up for election this year and he tells Raccoon Valley Radio that by not holding confirmation hearings this year, he believes that it hurts his chances to be re-elected, but he can’t worry about that because he has to do what he thinks is right in this issue.