Senate returns to Washington after Sen. Lindsey Graham's death with
uncertain agenda
[July 13, 2026]
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans will return to Washington on Monday
with an uncertain agenda after the sudden death of prominent Republican
Lindsey Graham, a committee chairman and key player who served as a
crucial ally with President Donald Trump.
Graham, 71, died Saturday evening after a tear in his aorta, according
to a statement from his office on Sunday. The shocking news came after
another prominent Republican senator, former Republican leader Mitch
McConnell, has been hospitalized for almost a month. McConnell broke a
weekslong silence about his health Sunday evening, saying that he was
still recovering after suffering from pneumonia and falling in his home.
The continued absence of McConnell, R-Ky., and the surprise death of the
South Carolina senator have shaken Republicans who were already at odds
with Trump and stalled on several priorities as they return from a
two-week recess. And the reduced Republican numbers in the 53-47 Senate
are sure to add confusion to what was already expected to be a chaotic
and difficult few months before the November midterm elections.
Despite consolidated power in Washington, Republicans have been unable
to get much done as the Senate, House and White House have disagreed on
legislative priorities and as Trump has criticized Senate Republicans,
in particular, for not passing his legislation to require proof of
citizenship for voters. Graham, who was one of Trump’s closest friends
in the Senate, often served as a pivotal intermediary.
“He was a great — like a gauge, a temperature gauge of the Senate,”
Trump said of Graham on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning, noting
he had talked to Graham on Saturday. “He could go in and get something
approved. He would just get people on his side.”
Republican priorities are stalled
The Senate left town two weeks ago after a rough few weeks for
Republicans. Trump blocked the Senate from confirming one of his own
nominees, asked them to fund parts of his White House ballroom project
despite opposition and forced them to defend the Iran war even as they
questioned the strategy and endgame.
He also refused to sign a bipartisan, election-year housing bill that
had the support of large bipartisan majorities in both chambers, arguing
that they should pass his bill to require proof of citizenship, the SAVE
America Act, instead. The bill became law on Friday at midnight after he
declined to sign it but did not veto it.
The alliance between Trump and Senate Republicans has also been weakened
after the president endorsed the opponents of two Republican incumbent
senators who had been reliable votes, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy. Cassidy challenged Trump directly on the
Iran war in a Capitol meeting between Trump and Republicans just before
they left town that did not go well.
Senate’s agenda is uncertain
Republicans return to a number of important agenda items, including the
confirmation of Trump’s pick for attorney general, Todd Blanche, and the
confirmation of Jay Clayton, who Trump selected to be director of
national intelligence and later temporarily blocked.
They also must find a way to navigate Democratic opposition and Trump’s
continued ire to keep the government open and prevent a government
shutdown, again. Graham was a senior member of the Senate Appropriations
Committee, as is McConnell.
Graham also sat on the Judiciary Committee that will consider Blanche’s
nomination and is the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, which has
been under pressure from House Republicans and Trump to move a budget
package with increased defense spending for Iran.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., listens during a Capitol Hill
news conference in Washington, March 6, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott
Applewhite, File)
There is also bipartisan legislation to move forward on a package of
Russia sanctions that Graham and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal
of Connecticut had announced on Friday after an agreement with the
Trump administration.
Blumenthal told The Associated Press on Sunday that Graham was
“absolutely focused on this moment” as they announced the sanctions
package after months of negotiations. He said he hopes Graham’s
memory will inspire the Senate to move forward.
“We’ve really reached this moment where all of the stars are aligned
and we will be lacking Lindsey’s spectacular advocacy,” Blumenthal
said.
Graham’s death came after a trip to Ukraine
Senate leaders have not yet announced how they will honor Graham,
who died after a tear in the inner wall of the aorta, called an
aortic dissection, related to hardening of Graham’s arteries,
according to his office. An official cause of death will be
disclosed after toxicological and microscopic testing, his office
said.
Graham, a prominent South Carolina Republican and former Air Force
lawyer who served in Congress for more than three decades, had just
returned from a trip to Ukraine.
A number of Republican names began circulating as possible
replacements to serve out the rest of Graham’s term, including three
candidates who fell short for the party’s nomination for governor
this year — Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Ralph Norman and Lt. Gov. Pamela
Evette.
Also in the mix is Rep. Russell Fry, who was elected to the House in
2022.
McConnell not expected to return immediately
McConnell’s Sunday announcement revealed for the first time that a
fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about his
condition after weeks of mounting speculation about his health.
The Kentucky Republican, who is retiring in January, said in a
statement that he was “briefly unconscious” around the time he was
first taken to the hospital in June and has undergone a battery of
tests to try and determine what led to his fall. He said he was also
treated for mild pneumonia and has been moved to a rehabilitation
facility.
“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a
concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have
any tumors or hemorrhages,” McConnell said, adding that he is now
“regaining my strength.”
He said he cannot return to the Senate “quite yet.”
McConnell explained the four-week silence about his condition by
saying that “folks of my generation often hesitate to share the
vulnerability that comes with growing older.”
“Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct — I can’t help
it,” he said.
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