Grassley starts talks with White House on judicial picks

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley is starting talks with the White House about moving judicial nominees through his committee.

“The only discussion I’ve had is the process,” the Iowa Republican said in an interview this week. “Just with the White House counsel.”

The update, however preliminary, signals the start of President Donald Trump’s relaunched efforts to transform the courts. Confirming hundreds of judges — including three Supreme Court justices — was a marquee achievement of Trump’s first term that is poised to leave the federal judiciary with a conservative slant for decades.

This time around, there aren’t many slots for Trump to fill: There are just 43 total vacancies in the federal judiciary, according to a database kept by the U.S. court system.

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