The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, held an executive business meeting on November 20, 2025. The agenda included votes on several nominations for key legal positions.
Nominations up for a vote included Tysen Duva for Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division. William Crain and Alexander Van Hook were considered for district judge roles in Louisiana, while James Maxwell and Robert Chamberlin were nominated as district judges in Mississippi. Nominations for U.S. Attorneys—Ryan Kriegshauser, Erin Creegan, Scott Leary, and James Kruger—were also set to be voted on. Other nominations were postponed to future meetings.
Senator Grassley provided updates on his ongoing Arctic Frost investigation. He noted that since the previous week, the number of congressional phone records targeted by Special Counsel Jack Smith had grown to at least 14 Republican members of Congress, including former House Speaker McCarthy and former Congressman Gohmert. "I expect there to be more," Grassley stated.
Grassley expressed concern over Smith's cooperation with Congress: "Jack Smith claims he wants to tell his story to Congress, but when I asked Smith whether he met with Wray, he refused to answer." Grassley reported obtaining a document showing that Smith met with FBI Director Wray on May 24, 2023: "Smith could’ve answered Congress, but chose not to." He added that questions about Smith’s use of non-governmental devices for official work remain unanswered.
Grassley also highlighted discrepancies in subpoena requests issued by Smith. While Smith said toll data collection was limited from January 4-7, 2021, subpoenas targeting McCarthy and Gohmert requested records from November 3, 2020 through January 8, 2021. "All these facts undermine Smith’s credibility, as well as his actual willingness to cooperate with us," Grassley remarked. He called for further explanation and stated that the committee would continue its review and hold hearings.
Turning attention to the Epstein matter, Grassley reaffirmed his commitment to transparency regarding information related to Jeffrey Epstein: "For years, I’ve sought more transparency. As Chairman of this Committee, I’ve made bipartisan requests for information." He welcomed passage of a resolution calling for release of relevant records: "I applaud the passage of the Epstein resolution. I’ll continue to push the Justice Department to release records... The victims deserve our maximum effort."
Addressing criticism from some Democratic colleagues regarding President Trump’s judicial nominees—who have been described as “The most extreme and unqualified judicial nominees ever considered by the Senate”—Grassley referenced a study conducted by professors at New York University and the University of Virginia comparing judicial productivity across recent administrations.
"The study considered objective, non-partisan metrics to determine a judge’s productivity, quality, and independence," Grassley explained. According to him: "President Trump’s judges ‘dominate the field.’ In fact...the top 10 most productive judges were all Trump nominees." He said Trump appointees also scored highest in judicial independence and low partisanship according to the same study.
"In short," concluded Grassley," President Trump has a history of nominating highly qualified jurists to the bench...Under my Chairmanship,the Judiciary Committee has and will continue to advance highly qualified nominees."
