Senator Graham: We Have The Votes To Confirm New Judge Before Election And We’re Doing It

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said on Monday night that Republicans have enough votes to confirm Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement to the Supreme Court.

“It’s pretty obvious [when] they want an outcome, they’ll destroy anybody’s life to keep these seats open. They said they tried to destroy Brett Kavanaugh so they could fill the seat, they were dumb enough to say that,” Graham said. “I’ve seen this movie before. It’s not going to work, it didn’t work with Kavanaugh.”

“We’ve got the votes to confirm Justice Ginsburg’s replacement before the election,” Graham continued. “We’re going to move forward in the committee, we’re going to report the nomination out of the committee to the floor of the United States Senate so we can vote before the election. That’s the constitutional process.”

“After Kavanaugh, everything changed with me,” Graham continued. “They’re not going to intimidate me, Mitch McConnell or anybody else.”

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Graham released a letter on Monday that was sent to Democrats on his Committee, saying that he was “certain” that “if the shoe were on the other foot, you would do the same.”

The letter stated:

Like millions of Americans, I was shocked and saddened to hear of Justice Ginsburg’s death. Justice Ginsburg served honorably on the federal bench and was a trailblazer for women in the law. She will be missed.

When the American people elected a Republican Senate majority in 2014, Americans did so because we committed to checking and balancing the end of President Obama’s lame duck presidency. We did so. We followed the precedent that the Senate has followed for 140 years: since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president’s Supreme Court nominee during an election year.

Because our Senate majority committed to confirming President Trump’s excellent judicial nominees—and particularly because we committed to supporting his Supreme Court nominees—the American people expanded the Republican majority in 2018. We should honor that mandate. Also unlike in 2016, President Trump is currently standing for reelection: the people will have a say in his choices.

Lastly, after the treatment of Justice Kavanaugh I now have a different view of the judicial-confirmation process. Compare the treatment of Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh to that of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, and it’s clear that there already is one set of rules for a Republican president and one set of rules for a Democrat president.

I therefore think it is important that we proceed expeditiously to process any nomination made by President Trump to fill this vacancy. I am certain if the shoe were on the other foot, you would do the same.

Amy Coney Barrett met with President Donald Trump on Monday at the White House, according to multiple news outlets. She is widely seen as the frontrunner to fill the seat vacated by Ginsburg, who died last week at 87-years-old.