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by JENNA ELLIS
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South Carolina knows Senator Lindsey Graham. He’s a fixture on national television, a force in Senate hearings, and someone who knows how to fight when the moment demands it. He’s played a key role in confirming some of the most important judges of our lifetime, including Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Amy Coney Barrett. For their votes on life issues, conservatives are grateful.
But for voters and constitutional conservatives across the Palmetto State, there’s growing concern about consistency, especially when it comes to Senator Graham’s record on lower court judicial nominees. As a central player in Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, the decisions he makes in that committee are sending mixed signals.
We are voicing these concerns, not to pick a fight, but out of hope: hope that Senator Graham will once again lead with clarity and conviction. We’re not writing him off — but we are paying attention.
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According to the Judicial Action Group (JAG), which tracks key judicial votes in the U.S. Senate, Senator Graham has repeatedly voted to confirm nominees who do not uphold core conservative principles. In fact, JAG reports that Senator Graham voted for 31 out of 45 judicial nominees in the 118th Congress who failed to pass an objective constitutional vetting process. That’s a 68% failure rate — a big fat “F.”
Graham supported judicial nominees who:
- Refused to say whether the Constitution should be interpreted according to its text.
- Sidestepped questions about whether Roe v. Wade was rightly overturned.
- Promoted expansive views of executive agency power — the same kind of power that gave us mask mandates, church shutdowns and vaccine coercion.
- Aligned with progressive legal organizations advocating against religious freedom protections.
Take, for instance, Graham’s vote to advance Nancy Maldonado to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, despite her record of alignment with left-wing advocacy groups like the American Constitution Society. Or his support for Jerry Blackwell to the Eighth Circuit, who not only lacked judicial experience, but also dodged critical questions about constitutional interpretation.
These aren’t obscure appointments. Circuit judges often have the final say in federal cases that never reach the Supreme Court. They rule on parental rights, school policy, abortion restrictions and religious liberty claims. When we get those appointments wrong, the cost to our freedom and faith is profound — and often irreversible.
South Carolina voters are among the most conservative in the country. They want their U.S. senators to reflect their conservative values and do more than talk a good game. It is reasonable to expect them to show up, do their homework and vote according to the values they espouse. Senator Graham knows how to do that. He’s done it before. But when judicial confirmation votes are treated as routine or traded away for political capital, the future of our country becomes collateral damage.
South Carolina conservatives are not looking for perfection; they’re looking for courage and consistency.
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South Carolinians understand that the judiciary is not just another branch of government. It’s where battles over life, family, faith and freedom are won or lost. That’s why voters care — not just in South Carolina, but all over the country. And that’s why we’re watching.
Senator Graham still has the chance to be remembered, not just as a showman in hearings, but as a statesman who stood firm when it counted most. But that means prioritizing principle over partisanship, especially on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The votes coming up over the next two years may not grab headlines. But they’ll shape the future of this country for generations. And we will remember them.
Senator Graham, constitutional conservatives want to work with you. We want to cheer your leadership. But we will hold you accountable. Because in the end, your legacy won’t be written by what you said on the news — it will be written by the judges you helped put on the bench.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Jenna Ellis is a senior adviser of public policy for the American Family Association, national radio host of “Jenna Ellis in the Morning,” and a Florida resident. She previously served as a senior legal adviser to former President Trump.
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6 comments
“He’s played a key role in confirming some of the most important judges of our lifetime, including Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Amy Coney Barrett.”
That makes me laugh….and cry. Those two are about as lukewarm, as wishy-washy, as it gets on conservative issues such as 2nd Amendment rights. Kavanaugh is not only a-hole buddies with sellout Roberts, he is practically a carbon copy of Roberts. Would Biden or Obama have picked worse? Probably. Should Trump and Lindsey have sought better? Definitely. For those who have forgotten, Roberts voted that the Obamacare individual mandate, which required citizens who did not have health insurance, pay an ever-increasing fine, fee, tax, or whatever name they decided on. Kavanaugh was Roberts’ clerk who wrote the opinion that justified this travesty. If Trump or Lindsey had been worth a damn, this would have placed Kavanaugh beyond consideration for any SCOTUS appointment.
Lindsey is now in that two year window he once spoke of, where he has to “act” like a conservative leading up to the next election. He is not conservative and has never been conservative. He is a liberal war-monger whose answer to every dispute around the globe is “let’s start a war with so-and-so” or “let’s bomb such-and-such country”.
I hope the voters of South Carolina are smart enough in 2026, to replace this charlatan. Our state, our country, and our planet, cannot afford another six years of him.
Cosign
Observer, please tell me how this works. When is it okay for a politician to have a different view of an issue. Now, a contingency of republicans expects every politician to do exactly as they say. The Problem: not all republicans agree on every issue totally. So, how is it possible for Graham to ever be right? Every time in SC that someone has a different opinion on one issue, and votes the way they feel best fits the state or country, and the small group of republican(sic) jihadists don’t like it, they call the politician a RINO. Mind you over one issue. This group wants tyranny and they want to pick the tyrant. Personally, Graham has represented the state and nation very well in my little eyes. He has stepped up to the plate on major issues affecting SC. To assume that everyone has to agree 100% of the time is just ludicrous. Maybe, he just operates with a larger vision that you don’t want to understand. What you state is not freedom, it’s tyrannical.
How about some of the judges he pushed for the 4th circuit? What was once the most conservative Circuit in the country is now akin to the 9th circuit in San Francisco. He doesn’t care about anything but himself. Name 5 things he has done to better SC that didn’t benefit him. We used to have senators who put SC first. Hell, Fritz Hollings was twice as conservative as Graham and did things to benefit SC.
Cosign
Lindsey is a Democrat. Always has been. He needs the R behind his name to attract Meemaw’s vote every few years. He’s bad enough, but I’ll wager, do-nothing Tim Scott’s judicial record is no better.