Graham lobbies White House on Childs for Supreme Court seat

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Wednesday that he pitched district court Judge J. Michelle Childs to the White House counsel’s office this week and warned that voting to support another pick would be “much more problematic” for him.

“I told them what I’ve been saying publicly, that Michelle Childs is well known in South Carolina, there’s a lot of support among Republicans, Democrats who practice law in South Carolina. I’ve known her and I think she’s a quality person, somebody I could see myself supporting,” Graham told reporters, recounting the conversation that took place on Tuesday night.

“I was just telling them I think she’s a good candidate. She would get a lot of bipartisan support if she did well at the hearing,” Graham added. 

Graham has been publicly talking up Childs, who the White House has confirmed is under consideration to succeed retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, and she came up as part of a conversation Graham had with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Wednesday. 

Clyburn has blitzed the TV networks to talk up his belief that President Biden should pick Childs. Childs is currently a district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. She has been nominated for the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, though Democrats have hit pause on advancing her appeals court nomination as she undergoes consideration for the Supreme Court.

Graham’s support for Childs comes as he’s viewed as one of the Republicans most likely to vote for Biden’s impending Supreme Court nominee. Graham supported then-President Obama’s Supreme Court nominees and, along with GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine), have supported most of Biden’s judicial nominees over the past year.

Ketanji Brown Jackson, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, is viewed as the front-runner for succeeding Breyer. Graham, Collins and Murkowski were the only Republicans who voted for her confirmation last year.

Asked if he could see himself voting for other nominees under discussion, Graham said that “it would be much more problematic.” 

“Stay tuned,” Graham added. “We’ll see. We’ll see who he picks.”