Chairman Grassley Calls for Bipartisan Support of Mascott’s Third Circuit Nomination

Floor Remarks by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
"Nomination of Jennifer Mascott to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit"
Wednesday, October 8, 2025

VIDEO

Today, we're going to move to our first vote on Professor Jennifer Mascott's nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Court.

I want to take a few minutes to express my support for her nomination and to urge my colleagues to vote accordingly.

Bipartisanship in this body has become unfortunately rare.

Our government is shut down because of partisan obstruction, and even the few instances of bipartisanship in our Committee have been condemned by leftist, dark money groups such as Demand Justice.

The situation is bad for our country, and really bad for the American people.

Putting high quality judicial nominees on the bench to serve the American people should be something that unites this body.

In fact, [during] the Biden administration, that happened.

Over 80 percent of the judicial nominees in that administration received bipartisan support on the floor.

By contrast, this Congress, only [about] 20 percent of the Trump nominees have had bipartisan support.

I encourage my colleagues to ignore the pressure from inflammatory progressive groups like Demand Justice, and to recognize Professor Mascott's tremendous qualifications.

Professor Mascott is a law professor at Catholic University.

She's so beloved by her students.

She has had a very distinguished career as a public servant and has impeccable professional qualifications.

Just as an example, as a law student at George Washington University, she earned a record-breaking 4.22 GPA.

Her professors even wrote to the Judiciary Committee, prior to her hearing, to explain that [they] often thought her exam answers were better than their own answer keys.

It's no surprise then that she went on to clerk for two Supreme Court justices.

Since her time as a clerk, she's grown into an impressive and nationally influential scholar.

Justices of the Supreme Court have cited her scholarship eight times - and even mentioned her by name in oral arguments.

She's also well known - and well respected - by our own Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Committee has called on Professor Mascott repeatedly to testify about some of the toughest constitutional and statutory questions.

She's also filed amicus briefs on behalf of members of the Committee in very important cases.

We trusted her judgment then, and we can surely trust that judgement now.

I'm confident that Professor Mascott will make an outstanding judge, and I know that she'll serve the people of Delaware and the Third Circuit with distinction.

President Trump made an excellent selection in Professor Mascott, and I hope my colleagues will join me in voting to support her nomination so she can serve on the Third Circuit.

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