{"id":2635,"date":"2026-07-13T22:41:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=2635"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:41:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:41:48","slug":"how-lindsey-grahams-death-quickly-changes-a-busy-senate-from-the-politics-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=2635","title":{"rendered":"How Lindsey Graham\u2019s death quickly changes a busy Senate: From the Politics Desk"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Welcome to <\/em>From the Politics Desk<\/em>, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team\u2019s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more 2 teens suspected in shooting spree that killed 5 people from same family in Illinois<\/a><\/p>\n

In today\u2019s edition, senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur digs into how Sen. Lindsey Graham\u2019s death will change the Senate. Plus, the latest on the Iran war, with the U.S. and Iran locked in a struggle over the Strait of Hormuz.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Scott Bland<\/em><\/p>\n

South Carolina governor appoints Lindsey Graham\u2019s sister to finish his Senate term<\/h2>\n

By Rebecca Shabad<\/h3>\n

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster <\/strong>appointed Darline Graham Nordone<\/strong>, Sen. Lindsey Graham<\/strong>\u2019s sister, to serve the rest of the late Republican senator\u2019s term, which ends in early January.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, under the law, it\u2019s my duty to and honor to name someone to serve in the place of this irresistible man, this irreplaceable man, this extraordinary man, for the remainder of his term,\u201d McMaster, a Republican, said at a news conference alongside Graham\u2019s sister.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLindsey took care of his little sister in years long departed. It\u2019s my honor to ask his little sister, Darline Graham, to finish his work for him now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Graham Nordone thanked McMaster for selecting her. \u201cIt is such an honor,\u201d she said. \u201cLindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she\u2019s sworn in, Graham Nordone will become South Carolina\u2019s first female senator.<\/p>\n

Graham Nordone will finish her brother\u2019s six-year term, which ends Jan. 3. Graham died Saturday at age 71 of what was preliminarily diagnosed as a rupture of his aorta due to a hardening of his arteries, his office said Sunday.<\/p>\n

How Lindsey Graham\u2019s death (with Mitch McConnell\u2019s absence) immediately changes a busy Senate<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Analysis by Sahil Kapur<\/h3>\n

Sen. Lindsey Graham<\/strong>\u2019s unexpected death complicates an already difficult dynamic on Capitol Hill for President Donald Trump <\/strong>and his party as both chambers of Congress return Monday from a two-week recess.<\/p>\n

Graham, R-S.C., sat on the powerful Appropriations Committee, which is trying \u2014 and so far failing \u2014 to hammer out an agreement to fund the government and avert a shutdown by the Sept. 30 deadline.<\/p>\n

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Between Graham\u2019s death and the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell<\/strong>, R-Ky., for the foreseeable future because he was hospitalized last month, Republicans have effectively lost their majority.<\/p>\n

With Graham\u2019s seat vacant for the moment, the breakdown on the committee is 14 Republicans and 14 Democrats. But while McConnell is also gone, Democrats have a one-seat edge if the committee tries to vote on legislation.<\/p>\n

Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster <\/strong>just appointed a replacement for Graham: his younger sister, Darline Graham Nordone<\/strong>, who will fill his seat for the rest of the year.<\/p>\n

Once she is sworn in, Senate Republicans can reshuffle committee assignments and regain the Appropriations Committee seat. But until McConnell returns, the best they\u2019ll have is an evenly split panel \u2014 not enough to pass a government spending bill without Democratic support.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Graham\u2019s death vacates the chairmanship of the Budget Committee, which would go to Ron Johnson<\/strong>, R-Wis., if seniority carries the day.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump administration tried to \u2018manipulate the judicial process\u2019 with its IRS settlement, judge says<\/a><\/p>\n

Johnson may be third in line on the committee currently, but he\u2019s the next man up because the two Republicans ahead of him \u2014 Chuck Grassley <\/strong>of Iowa and Mike Crapo <\/strong>of Idaho \u2014 already chair other important committees and can\u2019t hold two gavels at once. Johnson has no such conflict.<\/p>\n

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Also of note: Graham\u2019s sudden death similarly leaves a 10-10 partisan split on the Budget Committee until he is replaced and Republicans fill the vacant slot, though they can do that quickly.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the matter of Senate floor math. For the next vote Monday afternoon, the Senate GOP majority is effectively down from 53 to 51 seats, given that McConnell can\u2019t vote absentee. That narrows the party\u2019s margin for defections if it seeks to pass nominations or filibuster-proof measures without Democratic votes.<\/p>\n

Democrats have 47 Senate seats.<\/p>\n

But for most pieces of legislation, the Senate requires 60 votes, meaning Graham\u2019s death \u2014 and McConnell\u2019s continued absence \u2014 will have limited impact in that realm.<\/p>\n

Graham Nordone is not a politician or public figure, but she\u2019s expected to be a reliable Republican vote for the last six months of her brother\u2019s term.<\/p>\n

U.S. and Iran are locked in a power struggle over the Strait of Hormuz<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By Chantal Da Silva<\/h3>\n

We control the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

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That is the message from both Iran and the U.S., with the two sides locked in a power struggle over the crucial waterway that intensified with a weekend of attacks and fiery statements.<\/p>\n

The fate of the key trade route was supposed to have been settled by the tentative agreement to end the war. But the deal was in \u201ccrisis,\u201d Tehran warned Monday, beforePresident Donald Trump <\/strong>proclaimedshortly afterward that the U.S. was \u201ctaking over\u201d the strait.<\/p>\n

Trump said Monday on Fox News that \u201ceverything was agreed to\u201d in an eleventh-hour meeting Sunday but that Iranian negotiators had come back later and suggested changes, without expanding on what those changes were.<\/p>\n

The U.S. would become the \u201cguardian of the strait,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Later, he suggested on Truth Social that the U.S. would be reimbursed \u201cat the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped.\u201d He said that the strait was open but that the U.S. was reinstating the Iranian blockade, \u201cso named because it is only stopping Iran\u2019s ships or customers from entering or leaving,\u201d and that all other countries \u201cwill have fair and open use of the Strait.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, hostilities between the two countries continued to escalate.<\/p>\n

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A strike on a container ship sparked the latest intense exchange of missile and drone attacks, threatening to collapse the ceasefire, bring renewed conflict across the Middle East and tilt the global economy back toward peril.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bombed the hell out of them,\u201d Trump said Sunday on NBC News\u2019 \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d hours before another wave of American attacks. Iran said it hit back at U.S. facilities across the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\ud83d\uddde\ufe0f Today\u2019s other top stories<\/h2>\n