Posted on 11/16/2018 11:10:30 AM PST by MaxistheBest
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is poised to become the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee after Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced Friday that he would step down to take over the chairmanship of the Finance Committee.
The shuffle would put Graham, a close ally of President Trump who made headlines this fall with a forceful denunciation of Democrats during Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearings, in charge of the panel handling judicial nominations.
ADVERTISEMENT Graham is up for reelection in 2020.
He praised Grassley’s leadership of the committee in a Tweet Friday.
“I very much appreciate Senate @ChuckGrassley’s leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He chaired the committee with a steady hand, sense of fundamental fairness, and resolve,” Graham tweeted. “His leadership serves as a model to us all.”
In a subsequent statement, Graham said he would make confirming conservative judges a top priority.
“If I am fortunate enough to be selected by my colleagues to serve as chairman, I will push for the appointment and Senate confirmation of highly qualified conservative judges to the federal bench and aggressive oversight of the Department of Justice and FBI,” he said.
Graham’s ascension to chairman must be ratified by his GOP colleagues on Judiciary, but that is considered merely a formality.
The South Carolina Republican will also have jurisdiction over the Department of Justice and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump administration.
Graham met Thursday with Matthew Whitaker, the acting attorney general whom Trump appointed to replace Jeff Sessions the day after the election.
Whitaker assured the senator that he saw no reason to fire Mueller, something that has been a top concern of Democrats and some Republicans since Sessions’s resignation.
“As to Mueller investigation, I’m confident that it is not in jeopardy,” Graham said after meeting with Whitaker.
Whitaker told Graham that he doesn’t think Mueller’s probe has breached any guidelines.
“There’s no reason to fire him. I asked him, ‘Do you have any reason to [fire] Mr. Mueller. He said he has zero reason to believe anything is being done wrong with the Mueller investigation,” Graham said, recounting the conversation.
Grassley, who was fiercely criticized by Democrats for his handling of Kavanaugh’s nomination, said he’s looking forward to working on economic issues.
“The economy is better than it’s been in years and there’s a sense of optimism about the future of our country that people haven’t felt in a long time thanks to the pro-growth policies of a Republican President and a Republican majority in Congress,” Grassley said in a statement. “Looking ahead, at the Finance Committee, I want to continue to work to make sure that as many Americans as possible get to experience this good economy for themselves.”
Grassley said he would focus on passing additional tax relief, expanding markets for farmers, manufacturers and service providers, and reforming health care.
The Senate Finance Committee is one of the most powerful in Congress. It was at the center of the health care and tax reform debates of 2017 and also has jurisdiction over trade and the major entitlement programs: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
I can think of a reason to fire him: money. He - and his staff - is being paid big bucks to look for a unicorn. The government can use that moola to pay down the debt - or most anything else - more usefully that that.
Anyone who supports lindsey Graham, is supporting the ongoing coup against the President.
It will take years of 2.0 showing he is consistent before I personally can trust him again.
Considering he is up for reelection in two years in South Carolina, the examples of Heitkamp and Flake would suggest we needn’t worry too much this year or next.If you wanna suggest caution, IMHO it should be more of an issue in ’21 than now.
Excellent points...
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WOW! Something I never thought I’d see, balls on linda, kinda like teats on a bull, it takes a while to get used to the idea.
I was impressed with his new found spine,
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Something borrowed (latter), something blue (former)??
Sorry, don’t trust ‘im, not knowing how long until they both need be returned to their owner/jar on the shelf
Graham has been a flake for many years.
Being on the right side for 6 weeks doesn’t convince me that he has changed for the long term.
I worry more about keeping FR funded....more should do the same....why not use that nervous energy to encourage folks to keep FR afloat?
Maybe when Graham was just elected, McCain was the one who helped him get on the Senate Committees he wanted to be on (both served in Military) and maybe that military background sort of resulted in a sense of loyalty to “a superior officer so to speak” and Graham never went against McCain on key issues. Now that Senator McCain has passed on, Graham has no more loyalty to anyone and is taking positions that he and what his South Carolina constituents think are best. Maybe?
Graham’s previous sins are all forgiven once he helped to get Kavanaugh through. For now, I’ll give Graham the benefit of doubt. Remember McCain is no longer alive so he doesn’t get to influence Graham any longer.
Good point and quite plausible. I guess time will tell.
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