Graham 'hell bent' on filling next Supreme Court vacancy with conservative justice, amid Ginsburg health woes

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told "Fox News Sunday" that he is "hell-bent" on ensuring that the next Supreme Court vacancy -- whether it is ailing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat or otherwise -- is filled by a conservative, regardless of what outrage follows from the left.
Graham, the new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, emphasized that former Democratic Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid eliminated the Senate filibuster for federal appellate judicial nominees in 2013. Republicans later retaliated by eliminating the filibuster for Supreme Court appointments, meaning that a simple majority -- rather than a 60-vote supermajority -- is sufficient to confirm new Supreme Court nominees.
"My Democratic colleagues felt when they were in charge we should confirm judges by a majority vote," Graham told Fox News' Chris Wallace. "They changed the rules to accommodate President Obama. They tried to stack the court. They never thought [Hillary] Clinton would lose. So what you’re gonna have is Harry Reid’s and Chuck Schumer’s desire to stack the court on their Democratic watch has come back to haunt them."
Ginsburg will miss next week’s Supreme sessions and work from home, but her recovery from early-stage lung cancer surgery remains "on track" and no further treatment is needed, the court announced Friday. The 85-year-old’s absence this past week from oral arguments -- her first since joining the bench -- after her surgery in December sparked speculation about a possible departure and led to low-key planning by the White House for that scenario.
Following the contentious confirmation hearings of now-Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which were marked by a series of lurid, uncorroborated sexual misconduct allegations, Graham asserted that there would be "pushback from the left" regardless of whom Trump nominates.
"If there is an opening, whether it’s Ginsburg or anybody else, I will urge the president to nominate a qualified conservative and hopefully those people will get through – that person will get through," Graham continued. "And I expect it to be along party lines, and this is what happens when you change the rules. This has come back to bite ' em. I predicted it would. And we’ll see. I hope Justice Ginsburg serves for a long time. But if there’s an opening on this court, I’m going to be hell-bent to put a conservative to replace whoever steps down for whatever reason."
Pressed by Wallace as to whether it was appropriate to nominate a conservative to replace a liberal icon like Ginsburg, Graham again said liberals have only Reid to blame -- and he suggested Kavanaugh's treatment meant that all bets are off.
"They should’ve thought of that before they changed the rules," Graham responded. "They tried to destroy conservative judges. I voted for [Sonia] Sotomayor and [Elena] Kagan, understanding what I was getting, so this decision by Reid and Schumer may come back to haunt them, but I am dead set on making sure it is a conservative nominee. And elections have consequences. The rules of the Senate were changed not by me, by them, and we had to do it on the Supreme Court because they would not give us any votes to nominate anybody. And Kavanaugh was a fine man, they tried to destroy him. All this is going to come back to haunt them one day."
He added: "We don't need one Democrat to replace a liberal justice. And the reason that that's the case is because of what Harry Reid did. What he set in motion."
Separately, Graham asserted that President Trump is still ready and willing to make a deal with congressional Democrats to end the ongoing partial federal government shutdown, although the window is rapidly closing.
Graham suggested that the White House would likely approve a compromise that extended protections afforded to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients who fled natural disasters, in exchange for funding for Trump's proposed border wall.

On the 20th day of a partial government shutdown, federal employees rally at the Capitol to protest the impasse between Congress and President Donald Trump over his demand to fund a U.S.-Mexico border wall, in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

"I just talked to him about thirty minutes ago -- he says, 'Let's make a deal,'" Graham told host Chris Wallace. "The plan is to do a deal. He is willing, in my view, to do wall-plus. Funding for the wall that we desperately need, that's been done in the past  -- see if we can do a deal around the TPS recipients. There's about 400,000. They're going to lose their legal status soon. He's willing to extend that."
Graham added that Trump would be willing to offer work permits to recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for those brought to the U.S. illegally as children -- a compromise the White House had backed last summer. However, Graham noted, Trump's planned rescission of the DACA program is working its way through the appellate court process, as several federal judges have ruled that the White House violated federal administrative law by ending DACA without offering legally sufficient notice or justification. (The Trump administration has primarily argued that DACA was unconstitutionally enacted by Obama's unilateral order.)
"The DACA recipients, they’re all tied up in court, but I think he would give them work permits for three years, one-time renewable, if he could get wall funding." Graham said. "I don’t want to speak for the president. I don’t want to lock him in. But I’m confident what I just described with a few other things would be a deal acceptable to the White House and a lot of Democrats, and I’m just so frustrated we can’t get in a room and hammer it out."
Graham on Friday urged Trump to invoke his presidential emergency powers to immediately begin construction of the wall without congressional approval.   The White House last week directed the Army Corps of Engineers to look at possible ways of funding border security, including potentially through the reallocation of unspent disaster relief funds, in a possible sign the administration is moving in that direction.

"What's [Trump] supposed to do, just give in? He's not gonna give in."
— South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham

The South Carolina senator told Wallace he's not worried about Democrats similarly invoking a state of emergency to bypass Congress, both because they would have a weaker legislative argument and because Republicans would likely be more willing to compromise to achieve a compromise solution.
Challenged by Wallace for his criticism of President Obama's use of executive authority to enact DACA as "presidential overreach," Graham responded that no emergency was declared to enact DACA. Should the White House move forward with an emergency declaration, it has a handful of legal routes to take. The National Emergencies Act grants the president broad authority to declare emergencies, and several federal laws then could clear a path for the White House to move ahead with building a wall.

One statute, 33 U.S. Code § 2293 - "Reprogramming during national emergencies," permits the president to "apply the resources of the Department of the Army’s civil works program, including funds, personnel, and equipment, to construct or assist in the construction, operation, maintenance, and repair of authorized civil works, military construction, and civil defense projects that are essential to the national defense."
Another law, 10 U.S. Code § 2808 - "Construction authority in the event of a declaration of war or national emergency," permits the secretary of defense, in a presidentially declared emergency, to use "funds that have been appropriated for military construction" for the purpose of undertaking "military construction projects."
Graham said reasonable Democrats -- including Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, who spoke to Wallace later on "Fox News Sunday" and suggested he is open to negotiation on the border wall -- would be willing to make a deal without forcing Trump to use those emergency powers. ("I agree with the advice that Lindsey Graham just gave to the President which is that he should reopen the government and we should spend several weeks negotiating over what we can all agree on," Coons said. "I personally don’t think that a border wall is .... immoral.")
But, Graham said, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- who has called the wall an "immorality" -- has unreasonably cut off negotiations by saying she would not give more than one dollar to Trump's wall under any circumstances.
"Every Democrat that I've worked with for about 10 years now has agreed to funding for barriers/walls on Obama's watch, on Bush's watch, and all of a sudden it's a bad thing on Trump's watch," Graham told Wallace. "What's [Trump] supposed to do, just give in? He's not gonna give in."
Graham concluded with his own possible last-minute fix to the partial federal government shutdown, which became the longest in the nation's history on Wednesday.
"I would urge him to open up the government for a short period of time, like three weeks, before he pulls the plug," Graham said. "See if we can get a deal. If we can’t at the end of three weeks, all bets are off. See if he can do it by himself through the emergency powers. That’s my recommendation. But I think the legislative path is just about shut off because Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the House, said ‘Even if you open up the government, I’ll give you one dollar for the wall.’ As long as that’s the case, we’re never gonna get a legislative package, no matter what the Senate does."

Broadway Show Hamilton Cartoons

U.S. airports fear rising turmoil as personnel work without pay (But the Democrats are in Puerto Rico vacationing)

A Transportation Security Administration officer works at the entrance to Concourse G at Miami International Airport, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, in Miami. The airport is closing Terminal G this weekend as the federal government shutdown stretches toward a fourth week because security screeners have been calling in sick at twice the airport’s normal rate. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 3:20 PM PT Sat. Jan. 12, 2018

Airports across the country begin feeling the effects of the partial shutdown.
On Saturday, Miami’s International Airport closes one of it’s terminals due to security screeners calling in sick at twice the airport’s normal rate.
An airport spokesman said Terminal G would close at 1 p.m. local time, and will reopen for flights Sunday morning, and then close again that afternoon.
Reports said Terminal G is currently closed, and will reopen for flights Sunday morning, before closing again that afternoon.
Reports said Terminal G is the slowest running concourse, making up 3% of the daily flights.
Nationwide, there are about 51,000 airport security agents who have been working without pay since the shutdown started December 22nd.
This week, air traffic controllers protested, calling for an end to the shutdown.
“As this continues to go on the layers of safety are being reduced into our airspace system for no reason whatsoever,” said Paul Rinaldi, The President of National Air Traffic Control Association. “We don’t want to be in this tug of war. We want to run the safest system in the world – end the shutdown, end shutdown.”
On Friday, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association filed a lawsuit against the government, saying the shutdown has devastated the lives of workers, and impacted the safety of passengers.
It also states it is illegal to make people work without pay.
 But the Democrats are in Puerto Rico vacationing

Caravan forming in Honduras, could be larger than previous attempt

Honduran migrants walk toward the United States in Chiquimula, Guatemala, on Wednesday. A migrant caravan set out on Oct. 13 from the impoverished, violence-plagued country and was headed north on the long journey through Guatemala and Mexico to the U.S. border.Orlando Estrada / AFP – Getty Images

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 8:30 AM Sat. Jan. 12, 2018

Another migrant caravan is reportedly forming in Honduras.
The caravan’s organizers plan to leave for the U.S. sometime next week, and they are using social media as a way to spread the word.
Mexico is already sending hundreds of additional law enforcement agents to its southern border, in anticipation of the caravan.
Mexican officials said migrants who apply for visas will be allowed into the country legally, but that anyone who tries to cross the border unlawfully will be apprehended.
Word of the caravan has reached the U.S. as well, with President Trump saying this is another example of why Democrats need to provide border wall funding.
“A caravan is forming right now in Honduras,” said President Trump. “It’s supposed to be bigger than the other caravans. We will handle that as it comes up. If we had a wall, we wouldn’t have any problems. But we don’t, so we will handle it”.
If the caravan departs as scheduled next week, the migrants could begin arriving as early as mid February.

State Dept. allowed thousands of child brides into U.S. over past decade

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 8:10 AM Sat. Jan. 12, 2018

A new report claims, the State Department approved thousands of requests made by adult men over the past decade, to bring adolescent brides into the U.S.
The results of a Senate committee investigation published Friday, said the department granted more than 5,500 requests to bring underage spouses to America.

 WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 12: A sign stand outside the U.S. State Department September 12, 2012 in Washington, DC. U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

 

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 8:10 AM Sat. Jan. 12, 2018

A new report claims, the State Department approved thousands of requests made by adult men over the past decade, to bring adolescent brides into the U.S.
The results of a Senate committee investigation published Friday, said the department granted more than 5,500 requests to bring underage spouses to America.
The discovery has prompted lawmakers to consider new restrictions, because the grants were approved legally under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which does not set minimum age requirements.
“It’s really U.S. government policy to try to prevent child marriages and forced marriages — it’s easier said than done though,” said Senator Ron Johnson.
President Trump has made it a top priority for his administration to address what he calls the ‘nation’s broken immigration system’.

Dems fly to Puerto Rico on chartered jet, meet with lobbyists, see 'Hamilton' as shutdown drags on

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., left, was spotted on the beach Saturday in Puerto Rico, where some 30 Democrats gathered amid the partial government shutdown to meet with lobbyists and see the play "Hamilton," starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, right. The woman with Menendez was not identified. (David McAlpine, Fox News/Associated Press)

Despite a partial government shutdown with no end in sight, about 30 Democratic members of Congress traveled to Puerto Rico this weekend -- with their families and lobbyists -- for a winter retreat where they also planned to see a special performance of the hit Broadway show “Hamilton.”
Those attending the Congressional Hispanic Caucus BOLD PAC gathering in San Juan also planned to meet Saturday with Puerto Rican officials to discuss ongoing cleanup efforts from Hurricane Maria, according to a report.
FLORIDA DEMOCRAT GOT 'HAMILTON' TICKETS FROM UNDERCOVER FBI AGENT, RECORDS SHOW
“This year’s winter retreat promises to be our most widely attended yet with over 220 guests, including 39 Members of Congress and CHC BOLD PAC supporters expected to attend and participate!” a planning memo said.
The junket is taking place at a seaside resort where rooms run around $429 a night. The participants paid for the "Hamilton" tickets with their own funds, the Washington Examiner reported.
"Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda began a two-week run of his hit play Friday in Puerto Rico to raise money for artists and cultural groups still struggling in wake of Hurricane Maria. Tickets for opening night ranged from $10 to $5,000, according to the Associated Press.
“I have never felt anything like that,” Miranda said of the crowd’s energy, adding that singing the song “Hurricane” was a challenge. “It was very hard to sing that here in Puerto Rico because you know better than I what it is to survive a hurricane. I feel like I’m going back to Maria a little bit every time I sing it.”
TRUMP TELLS JUDGE JEANINE PIRRO THAT DEMS MUST 'COME TO THEIR SENSES' ON BORDER SECURITY
Around 109 lobbyists and corporate executives are named in a memo welcoming the guests, which include some from prominent Washington firms, R.J. Reynolds, Facebook, Comcast, Amazon, PhRMA, Microsoft, Intel, Verizon, and unions like the National Education Association.
A spokesman for the BOLD PAC -- part of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus -- would not tell the Examiner which members of Congress would be attending. But U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., was spotted on the beach Saturday, according to a FOX News producer.
The Dems' visit comes amid the ongoing partial government shutdown that has left around 800,000 federal workers with no pay since it began Dec. 22, making it the longest government closure in U.S. history.
“As our Bold PAC members make their way to Puerto Rico for this important weekend — the largest contingency of House Democrats to visit Puerto Rico where they'll be hearing from Commonwealth and local elected officials about the ongoing recovery efforts — we will be closely monitoring the situation in Washington,” Bold PAC Chair Rep. Tony Cardenas said in a statement. “If there is any progress by Senate Republicans or the White House to reopen the federal government, then we will act accordingly."
The chartered jet that carried the attendees also brought 250 pounds of donated medical supplies. The trip is the largest congressional delegation to the island since it was devastated by the September 2017 hurricane.
Julian Castro, former Housing and Urban Development secretary and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, will attend a summit on the island on Monday, according to the Examiner.

Moralistic Democrat Cartoons

U.S. troops begin withdrawing from Syria

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 8:01 AM PT — Friday, January 11, 2019

The U.S. is reportedly beginning the process of withdrawing troops from Syria. While he didn’t release details, a U.S. military official recently said equipment is being removed from the region.
This comes just three-weeks after President Trump announced he is bringing troops home. Stalling the process were fears about Turkey invading territory held by Kurdish allies to the U.S., and leaving a power vacuum in the war-torn country. However, the Kurds reached out to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for help.

FILE – In this Wednesday, April 4, 2018 file photo, a U.S. soldier, left, sits on an armored vehicle behind a sand barrier at a newly installed position near the front line between the U.S-backed Syrian Manbij Military Council and the Turkish-backed fighters, in Manbij, north Syria. An American military official said Friday, Jan. 11, 2019 that the U.S.-led military coalition has begun the process of withdrawing troops from Syria. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

International players in the conflict have been in talks about the future of former U.S. territory in Syria. Russia is mediating talks between the Syrian government and the Kurds to ensure a smooth transition when U.S. troops leave the region.
While speaking to reporters Friday, a spokesperson for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said establishing dialogue is vital to maintaining peace.The spokesperson also urged the U.S. to hand over its territory to Assad amid threats from Turkey of a possible attack on Kurds in the region.
However, Moscow has not officially picked a side in the brewing conflict as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepares to meet with his Turkish counterpart later this month.
National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have both visited countries in the region to explain the shift in U.S. policy.