Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Wednesday was elected chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 116th Congress.
Graham said in a statement that he was honored to have been selected by his peers for the position and vowed to make the confirmation of a conservative judge a top priority as chairman. The South Carolina Republican stated he looks forward to working with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the panel’s ranking Democrat, in a bipartisan fashion “on the major issues facing our nation”
In addition to his new duties as Senate Judiciary Committee, Graham will serve on the Appropriations, Budget, and Foreign Relations committees.
Graham will succeed Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) as the committee’s chairman.
On Wednesday, Graham also met with William Barr, President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, to discuss his January 15-16 confirmation hearings.
Following the meeting, Graham was asked about whether he will request Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to testify on alleged government surveillance abuses at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice.
“I’m going to do a deep dive into the FISA issue, I think [Barr will] be part of it,” Graham replied.