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.
Funny
Let Muller ruminate as long as a 2nd special counsel gathers a team to nail the beast
No way will he go after Hillary, DO NOT TRUST his temporary support for Pres Trump. It is a ruse.
He will in the end, protect the deep state.
Lindsey once called Hillary Clinton a national treasure.
Well Hibiscus spin off and not a rose we will just wait and see
WADR I disagree...I think he will go after them. It seems to me, he is on a mission.
Yup. Just like Sessions you protect your fellow travelers
And just sheer speculation here, but wouldn't it be nice if by the next election, there were enough conservative judges who will have the guts to start reversing the Democrat election cheating?
I must admit I like Graham 2.0 but I don’t trust people who flip flop like he did. I wonder when they will flip flop again.
It will take years of 2.0 showing he is consistent before I personally can trust him again.
a close ally of President Trump
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When it’s convenient for Flimsey.
When it comes to amnesty for illegal aliens and their employers he is NOT on the side of the citizens and the rule of law.
This makes me extremely nervous... Not sure he has the Grassley-like balls to move the nominees... I’m betting he will not... Blue slips will be potent once again...
P
Enough time hasn’t past yet to know if Graham’s really had a change of head and heart or not.....could be he’s faking in order to attain this position. He’s had YEARS of playing under the swamps table......I don’t see that going away overnight.
This is the worst thing that can happen.
I was impressed with his new found spine, but I will wait until he has her hands on the gavel {old habits die hard, and I'm not 100% sold on the new gonads}.
I truly hope that graham has become a man, now that mcpain has been buried {that miserable, prick backstabber}.
“Graham is up for reelection in 2020.”
This is a good thing for the chairman of the Judiciary committee. If he’s going to revert to the old Lindsey, he’ll wait until after 2020.
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