President Trump is restoring the proper role of the federal judiciary and reshaping our nation's courts. These lifetime-appointed judges understand their modest, but critical, role is interpreting the law as written — not how the judges wish it were written, if they were senators. Senator Lindsey Graham(R-SC) has served as one of the President’s key wing-men in this historic, consequential effort.
The confirmation of conservative judges played a critical role in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. After the death of the-late Justice Antonin Scalia, a lion of the law, candidate Trump promised to appoint judges in the mold of Scalia. In an unprecedented move, President Trump released a list of potential nominees who he would appoint to the Supreme Court. He has kept that promise as president, with the appointments of Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh. Of the 26 names on his Supreme Court list, President Trump has appointed 9 of those to the federal lower courts.
Since the President took office, the Senate has confirmed 156 new Article III judges, including Justice Gorsuch, Justice Kavanaugh, and an all-time record 43 circuit judges appointed to the critically important federal courts of appeals. Senator Graham assumed a leading role during the fight to confirm Justice Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. He refused to allow the leftist mob to sink Kavanaugh’s nomination based on an 11th-hour smear campaign. Senator Graham said this during the September 27th hearing: “I hope you're on the Supreme Court, that's exactly where you should be. And I hope that the American people will see through this charade. And I wish you well. And I intend to vote for you and I hope everybody who's fair-minded will.” Thanks in big part to Lindsey Graham’s epic speech, Justice Kavanaugh is indeed on the Supreme Court.
After the Kavanaugh fight, Graham’s approval rating shot up to 74 percent among Republican voters. President Trump carried South Carolina in 2016 by 14 percent. Recent polling showsGraham beating his Democrat challenger by 17 points.
Yet, Mr. Graham’s opponent voiced opposition to Justice Kavanaugh’s nomination, calling it “the biggest ruse on the American people.” The people of South Carolina clearly don’t want a Chuck Schumer loyalist representing them in Washington.
It is very important that we have senators who will fairly consider -- and not mindlessly obstruct -- President Trump’s next Supreme Court nominee. Senator Lindsey Graham didn’t allow the liberal mob to toss out due process during the Kavanaugh hearings. He played a key role in ensuring that Judge Kavanaugh became Justice Kavanaugh. Now, he continues to lead the Senate Judiciary Committee as the Republican senators work tirelessly to confirm President Trump’s judicial nominees to our federal courts — over fierce, mindless Democrat opposition. This is clearly one of President Trump’s greatest legacies. Thanks in big part to Senator Graham’s leadership, President Trump is making the courts great again.
Mike Davis is the founder and president of The Article III Project (A3P). He is the former chief counsel for nominations to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Davis clerked for Justice Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit.