Senator Dick Durbin of the Democrat Party has indicated more Republicans than anyone can imagine are willing to vote for Joe Biden’s forthcoming nominee for the US Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, GOP Senator Lindsey Graham extended his support to Biden’s potential nominee Michelle Childs.
Sen. Graham to support Biden’s Supreme Court pick
Durbin did not mention the names of the Republican senators who he thinks will vote for Biden’s nominee. However, Graham already declared his intention to cross the partisan line while voting for Biden’s Supreme Court nominee.
The South Carolina senator is currently promoting the candidacy of Michelle Childs, who is a federal judge from his state. He even predicted Childs is someone who can win the votes of at least ten Republican senators.
Democrats looking to gain bipartisan support for President Joe Biden's yet-to-be-announced Supreme Court nominee have their eyes on one of Donald Trump's strongest defenders in the Senate: Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. https://t.co/sKQBFysGms
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) February 13, 2022
This increases the possibility of Biden nominating Childs; currently, the progressive caucus is opposing her, but Republican senators can help Biden in confirming her.
However, while speaking to ABC News, Graham stated anyone else would be problematic in winning bipartisan support.
He hailed the personality of Childs in the past as well. Last month, Graham said in an interview that Childs is a “fair-minded, highly gifted jurist,” which makes her a perfect fit for the newly created vacancy.
Democrats already indicated winning a bipartisan vote is their top priority at the moment. Other Republican senators who might cross party lines include Sussan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Graham often crosses partisan lines to work with Democrats
Graham has a history of working with Democrats and often stated lawmakers should consider presidential picks, instead of rejecting them altogether.
He was the only Republican senator on the committee who voted in favor of two Supreme Court picks of Barack Obama.
Similarly, he backed almost 30 judicial nominees of Biden, while rejecting only a few of them. While explaining the pattern of his votes to the Associated Press, Graham stated he is playing a different game than everybody else.
Even though Republican ranks opposed Biden’s bid to pick a Supreme Court nominee from a specific race, Graham was the first one to defend the move. According to him, courts should “look like America.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham played up GOP support for S.C. Judge J. Michelle Childs to become Biden's Supreme Court pick, saying she could "probably get more than 60 votes."https://t.co/AEa1bDxoOv
— Axios (@axios) February 13, 2022
Despite this claim, he established anyone other than the judge of his own state can have a tough time in winning his vote.
The White House explicitly mentioned Childs as one of the candidates under consideration, even though she is not in the good books of far-left groups.
Dick Durbin endorsed Lindsey Graham, stating starting off from one or two Republican votes can be a good strategy, instead of not getting any of their votes.
GOP strategist Matt Moore, who worked on Graham’s campaign, believes one of the reasons for the senator supporting Childs is to appeal to his voters back home.
Democrat Senate leader Chuck Schumer also praised Graham, saying Democrats want him to back them up for further causes in the future.
