Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) declined a call to quickly hold a confirmation hearing for Judge Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s nominee for Attorney General, while blaming former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial by the Senate.
Graham, who still chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee due to an organizing resolution not being finalized, denied a request by the committee’s new chairman, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) To hold a hearing for Garland on February 8. The Republican said the Senate’s plan to start Trump’s impeachment trial a day after the proposed date meant that there would not be enough time for Garland’s hearing, while insisting that Trump’s impeachment for allegedly inciting the US Capitol insurrection USA on January 6 was tantamount to a Democratic attempt to “score political points.”
“Your request is highly unusual,” Graham wrote in a letter to Durbin on Monday. “The Senate is about to hold its first impeachment trial for a former president, and only the fourth trial for a president, incumbent or not. According to the Senate procedure, Donald Trump’s trial is scheduled to begin on 9 February. You want us to move quickly to Judge Garland’s hearing on February 8. “
“An impeachment is no small feat. It requires full Senate focus, ”added Graham. “Democrats fail to score political points in an unprecedented act of political theater on the one hand, while also trying to claim the mantle of good government on the other.”
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Graham maintained that Garland’s confirmation hearing, which he called “good choice” for the attorney general just hours before the January 6 uprising that resulted in Trump’s second impeachment, should take place over two days, noting that the last five attorneys general had two-day confirmation hearings. Graham said Garland could not have two days because “the Democrats voted in favor” of Trump’s impeachment, while the hearing and trial simultaneously “would not give the necessary attention”.
Graham’s letter was in response to a letter Durbin sent him earlier in the day, stating that there was “simply no justification” for challenging the February 8 date. Durbin suggested that not holding a hearing quickly for Garland could pose national security risks. He also said that he expected the hearing to take place “in a bipartisan way”, but warned that he was “prepared to take further steps to speed up the Senate’s consideration of the appointment of Judge Garland, if his hearing does not proceed.” It is unclear what additional steps Durbin plans to take to force the hearing to be accelerated.
Garland was the choice of former President Barack Obama to succeed Supreme Court Judge Antonin Scalia after his death in February 2016. Republicans controversially blocked Garland’s confirmation hearings, which they claimed were due to the presidential election. which took place about eight months after the appointment. Garland’s nomination became debatable after Supreme Court judge Neil Gorsuch was appointed by Trump after the election. However, the Republican-led Senate had no similar qualms about holding hearings for Supreme Court judge Amy Coney Barrett just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
Newsweek contacted Durbin’s office for comment.