Lindsey Graham Set To Take Over Senate Judiciary Committee
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley announced Friday that he wants to serve as the leader of the Senate Finance Committee, ceding Judiciary Committee chairmanship. Set to replace Grassley is the senior Senator from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham.
Once a staunch critic and opponent of President Donald Trump, Graham has metamorphosed into an ally, cozying up to the president and becoming one of his most ardent supporters, according to Vox, which notes that Graham taking control of the powerful legislative body would allow him to significantly impact Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, and Supreme Court nominations.
In a Twitter statement released Friday, Graham said the following.
“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.”
In the coming term, Vox notes, the Republican Party is likely to push through more judicial nominees, and it is Lindsey Graham’s popularity among Trump supporters, which appears to have surged following the South Carolina Senator’s vigorous defense of Brett Kavanaugh and virtually all of Trump’s policies, and his close relationship with the president that could cause headache for the Democrats
As The Hill reports, Graham said that he would look into the FBI’s handling of probes into Russian election interference and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails if he becomes chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“The oversight function will be very much front and center,” Graham announced.
Chuck Grassley plans to trade his Senate Judiciary Committee gavel to lead the Finance Committee next year, he said on Friday — leaving Lindsey Graham in line to replace him as chairmanhttps://t.co/9lSKgRdBWx
— POLITICO (@politico) November 16, 2018
According to Bloomberg, Lindsey Graham, who is also one of President Donald Trump’s golfing companions, is likely to become one of House Democrats’ biggest counterweight, since the senator has promised to put pressure on the opposition party if they decide to launch more investigations.
“To my Democratic friends, if you’re going to look backward, we’re all going to look backward,” Graham recently vowed, announcing that he would be willing to start proceedings meant to re-examine former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, as well as the Democrats’ role in the funding of the Steele dossier.
Although Graham has indicated that he would vote for legislation to protect Robert Mueller, shielding the Special Counsel from presidential meddling appears to be a top priority for House Democrats, as previously reported by the the Inquisitr, the incoming Senate Judiciary Committee chairman has also criticized the Democratic Party’s scrutiny of acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, now overseeing the Russia probe.
