Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley walked back a suggestion Friday that men outnumber women on the panel because “it’s a lot of work.”

The committee’s male to female ratio was scrutinized during Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing process, prompting Republicans to hire a female prosecutor who specialized in sex crimes to question California professor Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her more than 30 years ago. Kavanaugh has denied the accusations against him.

Of the committee’s 21 members, only four are female. All four — Sens. Dianne Feinstein, Amy Klobuchar, Mazie Hirono, and Kamala Harris — are Democrats.

Grassley was asked Friday why more female senators aren’t on the committee. “Well, it’s a lot of work. Don’t forget, compared to a lot of committee meetings, we have an executive every Thursday. … So, it’s a lot of work. Maybe they don’t want to do it,” he said, according to CNN.

Grassley then clarified that it’s difficult to get senators to serve on the committee, no matter their gender.

“We have a hard time getting men on the committee. Do you know we've got four people that are on the committee because the leader asked them to be there because they couldn't fill the seats up? They said we need you. It's just a lot of work whether you're a man or a woman. It doesn't matter."

"On average, any woman in the United States Senate, whether they're on Judiciary or any other committee, probably work harder than the average man," he added.