With Lindsey Graham Gone, Republicans Worry They Lost Their Trump Whisperer

Senate Republicans are grieving the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, and members are now wondering who will take his place as a key congressional emissary to President Donald Trump.

Graham’s work on Capitol Hill spanned more than three decades, and he was a prominent voice in foreign policy disputes and scores of judicial and legislative battles throughout his tenure.

But perhaps a more intangible loss is Graham’s unique ability to communicate with Trump. Once a political foe, Graham eventually became one of Trump’s foremost blockers and tacklers over the past decade, working as a critical liaison between the White House and Senate Republicans — frequently on the golf course.

“He could deliver good news and bad news because he was very honest with him. That’s going to be a tough void to follow,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), a member of leadership. “He was the kind of leader that you could get mad at one day, and then be just fine with the next. He’d just keep trucking.”

“We’ll miss that because I think that’s the way it used to be,” she continued. “You’d have a setback and just keep moving forward. We need more of that.”

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) agreed, telling NOTUS that Graham’s ability to talk to Trump was singular.

“The work that he has done advising the president and having really difficult conversations, nobody can fill those shoes,” Ernst said. “That’s the problem that we face right now. Finding someone that will be able to step up and do everything that Lindsey Graham has done for our country is going to be very difficult.”

The longtime South Carolian lawmaker who died Saturday was feted by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle Monday as members returned from the July Fourth recess. They often cited his sense of humor, which was known to be particularly biting. But they also pointed to him as a steady and dependable hand who was willing to work across the aisle and was a preeminent connector in the chamber.

“[He had a] singular ability to connect Saudi Arabia and Israel, or [Ukrainian President] Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump, or — name your geopolitical situation, he probably has the leaders on his Rolodex,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota).

Graham, 71, had been showing no signs of slowing down. Only hours before his death he had returned from Ukraine, where he was working to cement support from the White House on a Russia sanctions package.

The administration threw its weight behind the bill Monday.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, noted that he and Graham were the final remaining members of the class of 1994 still in Congress; both were elected to the House that year. Graham’s backing of both Ukraine and NATO will be irreplaceable in the Senate, Wicker said.

“There has been no greater champion for the Atlantic Alliance and the fact that it stands for freedom than Sen. Graham,” Wicker said. “It’s hard to replace someone in terms of effectiveness. It’ll be tough to miss him.”

His death also comes as Senate Republicans are trying to wrangle with Trump’s push for a third party-line budget bill before the end of the year. Graham was a staunch advocate for a spending measure to advance defense money and parts of a voter ID bill Trump has repeatedly called on Congress to pass. The path for that bill — the SAVE America Act — was already uncertain but without Graham, it looks even narrower.

“A lot of things will be more difficult without him,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), another proponent of the bill.

Graham also served on the Judiciary Committee. The panel is moving forward with its confirmation hearing later this week for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to lead the Justice Department on a full-time basis.

Without Graham, a single Republican defection would sink Blanche. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) has repeatedly said he is undecided on advancing the nomination.

Although Graham was a spirited partisan, he was constantly in the midst of high-profile bipartisan negotiations. Chief among those were the “Gang of Eight” immigration deal that passed out of the Senate but floundered across the Capitol in 2013, and the “Gang of 14” deal brokered in 2005 to help confirm President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees.

He was also among the few Republicans who voted to confirm Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan and supported numerous Democratic-nominated judges who are on the bench today. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is the lone Republican still in office who voted for the Supreme Court pair.

Graham was involved in ongoing negotiations to avert a government shutdown this October and in negotiating Congress’ annual defense policy bill, which the Senate is set to take up this week following a standstill in the House.

Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, will be sworn in as a temporary replacement on Tuesday so avoid shrinking Republicans’ majority further as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) continues to recover from a fall last month and Senate leadership grapples with a shrinking legislative calendar ahead of the midterm elections.

In the eyes of some members, picking up the work that Graham left behind will be difficult — even as part of a collective effort.

“He was just able to do magic that others just aren’t capable of doing,” Cramer said. “If we’re going to look for one of the remaining 52 [Senate Republicans], there’s no ‘one.’ We all have to do a little more of what we’re good at to fill the void of the many things he was good at.”