Sen. Lindsey Graham called on Democrats to approve President-elect Trump’s nominees for the Supreme Court, saying he doesn’t have an issue with any of the 21 names on the incoming president’s list of possible justices.
Graham made the comments to reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday, calling on his Democratic colleagues to do as he did, having voted for both Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan during their confirmation process. He also said that he “can’t imagine” voting against a Trump nominee to the high court unless they “completely fall apart.”
“I can tell any Democrat that I know you’re disappointed with the election outcome. Clearly, I was not on the Trump train — but he won, and he will be sending over conservative judges as openings come about.” Graham said. “Everybody on the list that I’ve seen, I think are good choices.”
“It’s up to President Trump to fill the vacancy created by Justice [Antonin] Scalia. When that person comes, I expect a challenging nominating process. That’s part of the system,” Graham continued. “I hope it will be respectful, and I can’t imagine voting against the nominee unless they completely fall apart.”
“The bottom line is I’ll ask my Democratic colleagues to do what I did — no more than I did. I voted for both Obama nominees understanding that I would not have picked either one of them because I thought they were qualified,” Graham said, adding at one point that he added Sen. Ted Cruz’s name to Trump’s list, saying half-heartedly that Cruz would get “get a lot of votes” if nominated.
Graham sat with a room full of reporters for over 30 minutes, delving into a myriad of topics, including the future of Obamacare, foreign policy under a Trump administration, and what he would be able to work with Trump to achieve — rattling off infrastructure and Sequestration as potential areas he could work with him on.
However, he also discussed Trump’s potential plans on immigration, saying that he isn’t sure what Trump wants to do on the issue outside of his campaign rhetoric.
“I don’t know what he wants to do,” Graham said. “I’ll tell you what I won’t do — I will not vote for a bill that, quite frankly, treats a grandmother and a drug dealer the same.”
He also speculated that Trump will need to compromise on what to do with the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States if Trump hopes to get what he wants on border security and potential increases in legal immigration.
The South Carolina Republican and former presidential candidate also said that he would support former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani or former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton if either were nominated to be secretary of state, which has been rumored in recent days.
Finally, Graham also warned Republicans about the potential repeal of Obamacare, saying that while he supports the move, members of Congress need to move swiftly to replace it — or else.
“The reality of trying to replace it will set in pretty soon,” Graham said. “I hope what we will do is not do what Obama did — talk to us and not listen and jam us. I hope President Trump will talk to Democrats about how to transition into a new system that is more affordable. Something tells me that he will.”
