Trump ally Lindsey Graham urges judges in their 60s to retire so they can be replaced before election

‘Now would be a good time to do that if you want to make sure the judiciary is right of centre’

The Independent employs over 100 journalists around the world to bring you news you can trust. Please consider a contribution or subscription.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham has called for judges who are 65 or older to step down, so Republicans can take their seats in time for November’s presidential election.

Mr Graham, a Republican senator for South Carolina, said that judges in their mid to late 60s should take “senior status,” which would open up their seat for a new appointment.

Senior status is a position that puts judges into semi-retirement, but officials are only eligible for it if they are 65 or older and their age and years as a judge add up to 80.

They receive their full salary, but take a lessened caseload, and Mr Graham told Hugh Hewitt on his radio programme, The Hugh Hewitt show, that any judge who is open to the idea should “take it.”

Mr Graham added that the Republicans have been able to appoint a fifth of judges since Trump came to power, and said they need to take advantage of this time, while they have control of the senate.

The Republicans could lose control of the Senate in November’s presidential election and Mr Graham wants to get new judges in as soon as possible.

“This is an historic opportunity. We’ve put over 200 federal judges on the bench. I think 1 in 5 federal judges are Trump appointees,” he said.

“So if you’re a circuit judge in your mid-60s, late 60s, you can take senior status; now would be a good time to do that if you want to make sure the judiciary is right of centre. This is a good time to do it,” Mr Graham added.

The 64-year-old said that judges need to decide soon if they want to take the status, so that the new appointments can be confirmed before the November election.

“Well, if you wait, you know, November the 1st, no. So do it now. ... I need some time,” the senator said.

Mr Graham is not the first Republican to call for judges to take senior status, and CNN reported that Senate leader Mitch McConnell urged them to do it earlier in the year.

“Obviously, the senior judges need to let the White House know in advance of the actual date so that we can be prepared to move the new nominee,” Mr McConnell told Mr Hewitt in February.

“As I said, my motto for the year is leave no vacancy behind, and that’s exactly what I mean.”