Lindsey Graham: Trump could appoint four Supreme Court justices during presidency

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Sen. Lindsey Graham said Thursday he believes it’s possible President Trump could name as many as four justices to the Supreme Court during his presidency.

“We could have four Supreme Court picks on Trump’s watch,” Graham said Thursday in Washington at a private event sponsored by a political action committee for young conservatives. “Do you understand how big that is for y’all?”

Graham, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, referenced Trump’s choice of Justice Neil Gorsuch to replace the late Antonin Scalia. He then singled out Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 84, and Anthony Kennedy, 80, as people who could possibly step down.

He didn’t name a fourth justice whom he thinks could leave the court, but he suggested some of the older conservative justices could step down.

U.S Senator Lindsey Graham attends the 53rd Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, February 19, 2017. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle - RTSZCF0 (REUTERS)

“I would say this: if in this four year period we could replace some of our older conservatives with younger conservatives, particularly Justice Kennedy, he’s a wonderful man, then you’ve changed the course of the Court for a very, very long time,” Graham said.

The South Carolina senator made the comments in Washington during an event at Hill Country Barbeque for Maverick PAC, a group that bills itself as “the leading conservative young professionals” PAC in the country. Vice President Mike Pence is set to give the keynote speech at the group’s Mavericks Conference on Saturday night.

Graham, who said he recently spoke to senior White House adviser Steve Bannon about health care, acknowledged “the second iteration of the bill is meeting a lot of resistance.”

Earlier Thursday, Republicans released a draft of a revised health care bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell needs 51 votes to start debate on the bill in the Senate.

Graham said he doubts McConnell has the votes. “Maybe they can pick up one or two more votes, but we’re about three short,” Graham said.

He added: “It would be a disaster for us as a party, after eight years of bitching and moaning about ObamaCare, to not even have a debate in the Senate about how to replace it.”