Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, faces pressure from conservatives to take a slower pace when considering President Joe Biden's judicial nominees.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, a Judiciary Committee member, told The Hill that Republican "leadership squandered a 50-50 Senate" before the midterm elections last year.
"They could have, at the committee level, made a major push to vote together and to stop at least the circuit court nominees," Hawley said. "Every single one of them would have required a discharge petition. We didn't do that.
"There was no concerted effort made whatsoever. Say what you want about [Democratic Judiciary Committee Chairman] Dick Durbin [D-Ill.], but he has not taken his eye off the ball. He's had help from Republicans."
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, also a member of the panel, told The Hill: "I think it's a good time near the beginning of this Congress to go back and look at the last Congress and compare that to what happened in the previous administration and figure out if we're needlessly accelerating the pace at which they're being confirmed."
Graham told The Hill in a statement that Democrats have "got the votes" on the committee due to their 11-10 advantage on the panel.
"Elections matter. We'll fight when it makes sense," Graham said. "We were accused of having a conveyor belt" when the GOP controlled the Senate during the Trump administration.
"This idea you get everything you want, and they don't get what they want when they're in like circumstance, doesn't work," Graham said.
Graham previously called on Republicans to work with Biden on judicial nominees.
"Let's work together, and we'll get some nominations moving in the spirit of what we did in the last Congress," Graham said at the start of the committee's first hearing on Biden's 2023 judicial nominees.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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