Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has sure changed his tune on nominations in the last decade. The senator came out swinging early after news that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had died, declaring what appears to be brand-new tactics standard procedure.
"The fact of the matter is that it’s been standard practice over the last 80 years to not confirm Supreme Court nominees during a presidential election year," Grassley said.
Which is, of course, total bullshit. It's total bullshit by Chuck Grassley's 2008 position when he said:
"The reality is that the Senate has never stopped confirming judicial nominees during the last few months of a president's term."
Nevertheless, it's total bullshit that's been embraced pretty much by all Republicans. So let's just take this opportunity right now to set the record straight, and there's no one better at doing that than the folks at SCOTUSblog.
The historical record does not reveal any instances since at least 1900 of the president failing to nominate and/or the Senate failing to confirm a nominee in a presidential election year because of the impending election. In that period, there were several nominations and confirmations of Justices during presidential election years. […]
In two instances in the twentieth century, presidents were not able to nominate and confirm a successor during an election year. But neither reflects a practice of leaving a seat open on the Supreme Court until after the election.
Just to make that clear: there is no modern precedent for leaving a vacancy on the Supreme Court until after an election. None. The closest parallel Republicans could make when a death or resignation left a seat open is in 1956, when Justice Sherman Minton stepped down when the Senate was not in session. President Dwight D. Eisenhower made a recess appointment of William J. Brennan to make sure there wasn't a vacancy, and Brennan was officially nominated and confirmed in early 1957.
There's also a relatively recent experience in 1988, when the Senate confirmed President Ronald Reagan's nominee, Anthony Kennedy. Grassley should remember that. He is on the record praising an expedited vote for Kennedy in that election year, and of course voted for Kennedy that same year. Along with every single other Republican senator. Even Mitch McConnnell. Boy, Republicans sure do have short memories. And selective interpretations of how things work.