Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that the nuclear option not only detonated the filibuster, but most of the leverage he held to get answers from the Obama administration about Benghazi.
“After today, I fully expect President Obama to stack the D.C. Circuit Court with liberal, rubber-stamp judges. This court has primary jurisdiction over lawsuits that challenge Obamacare regulations. It is no accident the rules were changed to stack this court,” Graham said after the vote Thursday.
“President Obama is committed to protecting Obamacare, his signature achievement, regardless of the damage done to millions of Americans,” he continued. “He is even willing to throw the judiciary into chaos if necessary. Any American who wants to bring a legal challenge to the thousands of Obamacare rules and regulations lost big today.”
Graham then noted that “the hold I placed on many Obama nominees until Congress was able to speak with the Benghazi survivors has been greatly eroded.”
The senator said he was “very pleased” that his hold resulted in the first Senate interview of a State Department Benghazi survivor on Wednesday, 14 months after the attack.
“I, along with several Senate colleagues, spoke at length to this individual who provided new and compelling information about the attacks on our compounds in Benghazi,” Graham said.
“Unfortunately, Americans who want to get to the truth about what happened in Benghazi were hurt by today’s vote. Without the ability to delay nominations, presidential administrations are likely to be even more successful in their stonewalling efforts,” he said.
“Finally, one of the great concerns about this rule change is without the requirement to work with the minority party to select judges, the judiciary will become dominated by ideologues. One of the biggest winners of this move is liberal groups who will be pushing radical, liberal judges to serve on the federal bench.”
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