Will Graham support Biden’s Supreme Court nominee? He may if judge from SC is picked
During separate appearances on Sunday morning news shows, Republican Lindsey Graham and Democrat Jim Clyburn did something unusual — they agreed.
The Palmetto State politicians who sit on opposite sides of the aisle in the U.S. Congress both spoke very highly of Michelle Childs, a judge from South Carolina who is considered one of the top candidates to be nominated to the Supreme Court by President Joe Biden.
It’s well documented that Clyburn, the Majority Whip and third-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, has supported Childs as a potential nominee.
Sunday on CBS’ “Face The Nation,” Clyburn reiterated his belief in Childs, telling host Margaret Brennan he endorsed South Carolina’s U.S. District Court Judge to Biden more than a year ago.
What was not as widely know was what a fan Childs has in Graham, South Carolina’s senior member of the U.S. Senate.
Graham heaped praise on Childs during his own interview with Brennan on “Face The Nation.”
“I can’t think of a better person for President Biden to consider for the Supreme Court than Michelle Childs. She has wide support in our state. She’s considered to be a fair minded, highly gifted jurist. She’s one of the most decent people I’ve ever met,” Graham said on the CBS program. “It would be good for the court to have somebody who’s not at Harvard or Yale. She’s a graduate of the University of South Carolina, a public education background. She’s been a workers comp judge. She’s highly qualified. She’s a good character.
“And we’ll see how she does if she’s nominated. But I cannot say anything bad about Michelle Childs. She is an awesome person.”
Before becoming a state judge, Childs was a partner at a large law firm. She holds a degree from Duke University School of Law, an undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and two degrees from the University of South Carolina School of Law and School of Business.
Despite Graham’s affinity for Childs, the Republican senator did not say he would definitely vote for Childs should she be the nominee of a Democrat in the White House.
“If she’s nominated, she will not be treated like Judge (Brett) Kavanaugh, I promise you, by Republicans. Let’s see how she does at the hearing. But I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I’m a big admirer,” Graham said.
Graham garnered attention for angrily lashing out at Democrats during the nomination hearings for Kavanaugh, a current Supreme Court justice.
He sounded a much more civil tone Sunday when discussing Childs.
Graham even disputed the notion that a Childs nomination amounts to little more than affirmative action in the nation’s highest court. One of the people making that assertion is Graham’s fellow Republican from South Carolina, Nikki Haley.
South Carolina’s former governor, who served as the Trump Administration’s U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, tweeted “Would be nice if Pres Biden chose a Supreme Court nominee who was best qualified without a race/gender litmus test. That’s what I did when I picked Tim Scott as Senator of South Carolina.”
In 2012, then Gov.-Haley picked Scott to replace Jim DeMint as one of South Carolina’s U.S. senators. DeMint resigned to become president of the Heritage Foundation. Scott is the Senate’s only Black Republican.
“We make a real effort as Republicans to recruit women and people of color to make the party look more like America. Affirmative action is picking somebody not as well qualified for past wrongs,” Graham said. “Michelle Childs is incredibly qualified. There’s no affirmative action component if you pick her. She is highly qualified. ... Whether you like it or not, Joe Biden said, I’m going to pick an African-American woman to serve on the Supreme Court. I believe there are plenty of qualified African-American women, conservative and liberal, that could go onto the court. So I don’t concede — I don’t see Michelle Childs as an act of affirmative action. I do see putting a black woman on the court, making the court more like America.
“In the history of our country, we’ve only had five women serve and two African-American men, so let’s make the court more like America. But qualifications have to be the biggest consideration. And as to Michelle Childs, I think she’s qualified,” Graham said.
Childs was one of many considered to be a potential pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. On Wednesday, sources broke the news that Breyer, 83, would be retiring. Breyer confirmed his retirement plans Thursday in a joint news conference with President Biden. He will step down later this year.
Although Clyburn has Biden’s ear on this Supreme Court nomination, Childs’ chances are unclear.
Other Black female judges are said to be the front runners, according to legal scholars and reporters who cover legal matters. Those judges include U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger.
In 2021, colleagues described Childs as a judge with “30 years of experiences dealing with real clients, real plaintiffs, real trial lawyers and complex business, legal and other court dilemmas. She would be able to look at matters through a lens of humanity as well as the law’s cold black-letter prisms.”
Childs has handled high profile cases, including complex litigation involving the now-defunct SCANA’s $10 billion nuclear project business failure and voting rights matters. Childs also issued a major opinion upholding a South Carolina gay marriage as legal at a time when the state did not give recognition to such marriages.
Biden said he will announce his choice by the end of February.
Staff reporters Maayan Schechter and John Monk contributed to this report.
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