Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is claiming Senate Republicans have enough votes to confirm a replacement following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
This comes amid a fight between Republicans and Democrats on whether to quickly push a nominee in an effort to fill the Supreme Court vacancy ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Speaking with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday evening, Graham said of Democrats, “It’s pretty obvious that if they want an outcome, they’ll just destroy anybody’s life to keep these seats open.”
He continued to blast congressional Democrats, saying, “They said they tried to destroy Brett Kavanaugh so they could fill the seat — they were dumb enough to say that.”
“I’ve seen this movie before. It’s not going to work, it didn’t work with Kavanaugh,” the South Carolina lawmaker added.
The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman then suggested that Republicans “got the votes” to confirm a justice:
“We’ve got the votes to confirm Justice Ginsburg’s replacement before the election. We’re going to move forward in the committee, we’re going to report the nomination out of the committee to the floor of the United States Senate so we can vote before the election. That’s the constitutional process.”
Watch Graham’s interview below:
Graham has come under fire for backing President Donald Trump in filling the Supreme Court vacancy. People gathered outside his Washington, D.C., home early Monday to protest, where some signs called the lawmaker out for his previous remarks in 2016.
In 2016, Graham said, “I want you to use my words against me. If there’s a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.”
However, he pushed back against those criticizing him, as he tweeted on Sunday, “Being lectured by Democrats about how to handle judicial nominations is like an arsonist advising the Fire Department.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) blasted congressional Republicans for being “disrespectful” in moving ahead on Friday, the same night Ginsburg died, in vowing to vote on her replacement.
She said during an MSNBC interview Monday, “It’s important to uphold the Constitution of the United States. It should be done with care, whoever the president is. So, the hypocrisy of the Republicans on this is really not important in people’s daily lives, but it is indicative that they don’t keep their word.”
Pelosi added, “They want to get it done so they can overturn the Affordable Care Act. And you know what? They’re going to be paying this price for elections to come, elections to come. Everyone is looking at what makes a difference in these senatorial races. We’ll see. But what they don’t really understand is they’re going to see 2018 again and again and again in terms of defeats in the Congress.”