Despite opposition from Senate Democrats and other party leaders, Republicans stand ready to vote on President Donald Trump’s forthcoming nominee to replace U.S. Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last week.
In fact, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) boasted that his colleagues across the aisle should get used to the idea of living with Trump’s legacy imprinted on the judicial branch for generations, as reported by the Washington Examiner.
“The Donald Trump court”
His remarks on the issue came on Sunday during a call with state GOP leaders and were reiterated in subsequent statements.
Speaking to South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick, Graham predicted that the party is “going to get four more years and by the time it’s over, it’ll be the Donald Trump court.”
Having already seen two nominees confirmed to the nation’s highest court, Trump now has the chance to name a third — representing one-third of the bench — within his first term.
As Graham noted, the vacancy created by Ginsburg’s death affords the president an opportunity to tilt the court decisively toward the right for decades to come.
During an appearance on Fox News Channel’s Hannity on Monday evening, Graham expressed further optimism in reporting that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had already lined up enough support within the party to confirm a new justice by Election Day.
“That’s not written in the stars”
“We’ve got the votes to confirm Justice Ginsburg’s replacement before the election,” Graham said.
The Republican Party’s odds improved again on Tuesday when Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), a prominent Trump critic, said he would support a vote on Trump’s nominee, as reported by Politico.
“My liberal friends have over many decades gotten very used to the idea of having a liberal court, but that’s not written in the stars,” Romney said, adding that he believes it is “appropriate” for the nation to have “a court which reflects center-right points of view.”
So far, the only Republicans to express opposition have been Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.
While members of the GOP are anticipating plenty of backlash from Democrats as they push forward with a plan to confirm a nominee in the short term, they are increasingly confident that this move will serve as a long-term win for the party.
The post 'We've got the votes': GOP leaders optimistic Trump will realign Supreme Court first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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