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Biden has nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court.
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Graham stated that “the radical left has won,” although he voted to confirm Jackson in her current position.
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The South Carolina Republican had openly argued for J. Michelle Childs, a judge in his state.
Following news that President Joe Biden will nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Friday overturned the decision, declaring that the “radical left” won.
Graham, a close confidante of former President Donald Trump who was once close to Biden, had openly urged the president to nominate South Carolina federal district judge J. Michelle Childs for the seat to be filled by Associate Justice Stephen Breyer. left open when he retires this year. summer.
“If the media reports are correct and Judge Jackson is chosen as the Supreme Court nominee to replace Judge Breyer, it means that radical left President Biden has won again,” Graham said in a statement. “The attacks by the left on South Carolina right Childs have apparently worked.” The White House announced that about an hour later, Biden nominated Jackson to the nation’s Supreme Court.
Since Biden promised last month that he would keep his 2020 campaign promise to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court, Graham and other lawmakers, including Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Publicly Acclaimed Children.
Still, Childs had come under scrutiny for her track record as a labor and employment attorney in South Carolina, where she represented clients accused of discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace.
“She comes from an anti-union law firm where she spent time defending employers against claims of civil rights and labor violations,” David Borer, general counsel for the American Federation of Government Employees, told the Washington Post earlier this month. “That’s not what we need.”
Despite Graham’s initial criticism of Biden’s decision, it’s not immediately clear whether or not he would oppose Jackson’s confirmation — he was one of three Republican senators who voted to confirm her before the DC Court of Justice. Appeals, her current position, less than a year ago.
Graham also drew attention Friday to the fact that Jackson is a Harvard-trained attorney. Childs, on the other hand, would have been the rare addition to the highest court as a lawyer attending a state university.
“I expect a respectful but interesting hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Graham said. “The train from Harvard-Yale to the Supreme Court continues unabated.”
Graham also stood out as part of a handful of Republicans who praised Biden for promising to select a black woman for the job.
“Put me in camp to make sure the court and other institutions look like America,” he told CBS News earlier this month. “You know, we as Republicans are really doing our best to recruit women and people of color to make the party more like America.”
Democratic leaders in the Senate say they plan to act quickly to confirm Biden’s candidate, who only needs a simple majority to be appointed to the court. In the event that no Republican backs her endorsement, all 50 Democrats must be on board, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the casting vote.
“We will immediately proceed with her appointment with the careful, fair and professional approach that she and America are entitled to,” Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Friday.
Read the original article on Business Insider
