-- Sen. Tim Scott, the only African American Republican in the Senate
(The Washington Post) -- "Sen. Tim Scott, the only African American Republican in the Senate, has a blunt message for his party’s leaders: When it comes to picking judicial nominees and examining their records on race, you can do better.
The senator from South Carolina made his point in a letter to the editor published online Thursday and in print Friday by the Wall Street Journal. Scott’s note came a week after he announced his opposition to Thomas A. Farr, dooming the U.S. District Court nominee’s chances of being confirmed.
Most Republican senators have fallen in line behind President Trump on judicial nominations and other matters. The two most vocal Republican critics of Trump in the Senate, Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.), are retiring in a few weeks.
But Scott has signaled he is willing to do what most elected Republicans have not during Trump’s presidency — challenge the GOP to change its positions on race, politics and their intersection."