Republicans return to Washington facing a thinner working margin, stalled spending bills and a fight over the president’s attorney general nominee.
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The death of Sen. Lindsey Graham on Saturday, coupled with Sen. Mitch McConnell’s continued absence, leaves Senate Republicans shorthanded at a crucial moment for President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The Senate returns Monday from a two-week recess with a long to-do list: renewing an expired surveillance law, considering Trump’s request for more Pentagon funding for the war with Iran, confirming Todd Blanche as attorney general and advancing spending bills before a Sept. 30 government funding deadline.
Graham’s death and McConnell’s extended absence leaves Republicans with a 51-to-47 Senate majority. McConnell, who was hospitalized last month, said Sunday that he’s not yet ready to return to the Senate floor on doctors’ advice, reducing Republicans to a slimmer majority until Graham’s successor is sworn in and McConnell returns.
The Senate is scheduled be in session for just seven weeks before the midterms. In addition to renewing the surveillance law and considering Trump’s request for more defense spending, Congress also must reach an agreement to fund the federal government by Sept. 30 to prevent another government shutdown. Some Republicans also want to push through more priorities ahead of the midterms using reconciliation, a time-consuming process that allows them to pass legislation without Democratic votes as long as it follows budget rules.
Those priorities are still theoretically possible without McConnell and Graham, but they could be harder.
Graham was chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, which plays a crucial role in passing bills through reconciliation. He was also a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, which is set to hold a hearing on Blanche’s nomination on Wednesday.
Republicans would still hold an 11-to-10 majority on Judiciary without Graham, allowing them to move Blanche’s nomination if every remaining Republican is present and supportive. But without Graham and McConnell, it could be harder to confirm Blanche on the Senate floor if a handful of Republicans oppose him.
Graham — who spent more than two decades in the chamber and had a close relationship with Trump — died suddenly on Saturday night. His office released the D.C. medical examiner’s preliminary findings Sunday afternoon attributing Graham’s death to “aortic dissection,” or a tear in a layer of the aorta. The finding was “pending” until further tests were completed.
McConnell has been absent from the Senate since his hospitalization on June 14. For weeks his office has refused to explain what caused his hospitalization. But on Sunday — after weeks of rumors and growing questions about his condition — McConnell released a statement saying his hospitalization was caused by a fall.
McConnell said he wasn’t healthy enough yet to return to the Senate and that he had battled pneumonia while hospitalized, though he recently left the hospital for a rehabilitation center.
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Operating without two pivotal members adds to the mounting pressure on Senate Republicans to advance key priorities that have been stalled by intra-party conflicts and disagreements with Democrats ahead of the midterms.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet passed any spending bills for the 2027 fiscal year ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline as a disagreement with Democrats over defense funding and McConnell’s absence have delayed the process.
Democrats have refused to support the increase in defense spending Republicans have put forward without a comparable increase in funding for domestic programs. Senate Democrats have indicated they will not support spending bills until there is an agreement on overall funding levels.
Graham’s death plus McConnell’s absence leaves just 13 Republicans on the Appropriations Committee vs. 14 Democrats, meaning Republicans are unable to advance any spending bills if all Democrats are in opposition.
The Budget Committee that Graham had chaired oversees the reconciliation process and would play a key role in constructing what would be the third party-line budget bill this Congress. Trump has called for another reconciliation bill that he wants to include $350 billion in defense funding.
Without Graham, the committee is split along party lines. Republicans are expected to move quickly to replace Graham on the committee, but any delay in the process could make the chances of passing a bill before the midterms narrower. And some GOP lawmakers have already expressed skepticism about moving another party-line bill through the chamber.
The Trump administration has also requested $87.6 billion in supplement funding for the Pentagon and other agencies. McConnell leads the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee with jurisdiction over military spending.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) has indicated that the committee would hold a hearing on the request. However, it’s unclear whether any Democrats on the committee would support the funding.
Under South Carolina law, Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, may appoint a temporary successor to serve the remainder of Graham’s current term that ends in January.
Senate Republicans will also need floor action to assign another Republican senator to Graham’s committee seats.
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