Whitehouse warns GOP can't complain about 'future procedural efforts' by Dems if SCOTUS pick confirmed

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Sen. Whitehouse on SCOTUS hearing: Important to show people what's at stake

Sheldon Whitehouse lays out Democrats' strategy for Supreme Court nomination hearing

If Senate Republicans confirm a replacement for late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the November election, "they have forfeited their standing to complain about future procedural efforts" by Democrats, Senate Judiciary Committee member Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., told "Bill Hemmer Reports" Tuesday.

“You can't have a situation in which Senate rules and traditions and norms all get broken when one side is in power and then they get to blow the whistle when the other side does the same thing," Whitehouse told host Bill Hemmer.

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Whitehouse added that his statement should be considered a “warning” to Republicans to start acting in a more “normal” manner if they want to uphold Senate tradition.

“If you want it to be a little bit more normal, then you're going to have to be a bit more normal," he said.

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Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News’ "Hannity" Monday that the Democrats only care about keeping the seat held by Ginsburg open in the hope that a Democratic president can choose a new justice and a Democrat Senate can confirm the choice.

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Whitehouse argued that delaying the nomination would allow Americans to be heard in the matter.

“I think the point is that the public really has a voice in all of this, and it's going to be important to us to show people what is at stake here,” he said.