Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will sit down with President Obama's Supreme Court pick even though he believes the seat should remain vacant until next year.

Kevin Bishop, Graham's spokesman, confirmed that the South Carolina Republican will have a "courtesy meeting" with nominee Merrick Garland. It's unclear when the meeting will take place.

Graham is the third Republican on the Judiciary Committee to announce that he will sit down with Garland. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the committee, and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) will meet with him next week.
Seventeen GOP senators have said they are open to meeting with Garland and three have already sat down with him. In addition to Flake and Grassley, Sens. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Rob Portman (Ohio) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) will also meet with him next week.

Bishop, however, said that Graham "remains opposed to moving forward with the Garland nomination. He continues to believe the next president should pick the next nominee for the Supreme Court."

Graham had previously said he wouldn't meet with Garland, suggesting they wouldn't have anything to talk about. He also joined with every other Republican member on the committee to send a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pledging that Garland won't get a hearing.

Asked Tuesday if the Senate could take up Garland's nomination after the election, Graham said "absolutely not."

"I'm sure he's a great guy, no doubt about that," he added. "[But] he's not going to get... confirmed so what's the purpose of a hearing?"

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/se...e-court-nominee


TM is SHOCKED!!!!