Lindsey Graham Says He Might Vote No On Biden's SCOTUS Nominee

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Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:48 pm

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, indicated he might vote “no” on President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

Graham’s announcement comes despite the fact that he voted last year to confirm her to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. He said nominating Jackson “means the radical left has won President Biden over yet again.”

In separate remarks last week, he said that he would have preferred Biden nominate Michelle Childs, a judge who sits on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, the state he represents.

“The reason Michelle Childs is not the nominee is because of a concerted effort by the left to take her down and that doesn’t sit very well with me,” he said at the time.

He added: “Here’s the point: I was willing to get probably double-digit Republican support for somebody that would have been in the liberal camp from my state. “So they made a political decision to reject bipartisanship and go another way.”

Last month, Graham predicted that if Childs were nominated to the Supreme Court, more than 10 Republicans in the Senate would vote to confirm her.

“She’s somebody, I think, that could bring the Senate together and probably get more than 60 votes,” Graham said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” “Anyone else would be problematic,” he added.

Meanwhile, Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) signaled she could vote for Jackson after meeting with her yesterday, saying it’s “clear that her credentials and the breadth of her experience are impressive.”

“I think it’s important to recognize that she has been confirmed three times now, so this is not a candidate who is a blank slate to us,” said Collins. “To spend more than an hour and a half one-on-one with a judicial nominee gives you quite a bit of information, and finally I have confidence in Chairman [Dick] Durbin to do a thorough and fair set of hearings.”

“I will, of course, await the hearings before the Judiciary Committee before making a decision, but I found today’s session to be very helpful,” she concluded.