The recent flare-up between President Trump and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) conjures the image of two elderly neighbors quarrelling over a back fence about property line disagreements.

That metaphor is not far from the reality of the latest clash. Presidents and Congress have been tangling over turf from the beginning of the republic. Who is encroaching on whose constitutional prerogatives.

In the present instance, the president has attacked Grassley for allowing so-called “blue slips” — “an ancient and probably unconstitutional custom” — to get in the way of confirming nominees for federal district court judgeships and U.S. attorney posts.

Grassley says he was especially “offended” and “disappointed” by the president’s personal insults on his Truth Social platform. He called Grassley a RINO ("Republican in name only") for protecting Democratic senators and went on to call for term limits (Grassley was first elected to the Senate in 1981 and is 91 years old), saying it’s time to “dethrone the kings.”

Fellow senators of both parties rallied to Grassley’s defense. They like the seniority system (especially the closer they get to a committee........

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