{"id":5266,"date":"2026-07-13T19:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T14:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5266"},"modified":"2026-07-13T19:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T14:06:17","slug":"the-brief-trump-says-grahams-final-conversation-with-him-was-about-the-save-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5266","title":{"rendered":"The Brief: Trump Says Graham\u2019s Final Conversation With Him Was About the SAVE Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h2-7a768e81-1364-4a22-83d0-30712a8705a5\">Voter Suppression Looms Large in Push to Replace the Senator<\/h2>\n<p>We heard a lot in the day after Lindsey Graham died at 71 about the way in which the senator played a key roll for the White House, explaining how the Senate worked to Trump. Given the president\u2019s recent, monomaniacal focus on passing the SAVE America Act, the voter suppression legislation was, apparently, a key component of that relationship. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe literally called me about the SAVE America Act,\u201d Trump told Meet the Press, describing his last call with Graham, which came hours before his death. \u201cThink of it: He\u2019s traveling for many, many hours \u2014 thats a long flight, that\u2019s a long trip. And he calls me about SAVE America Act.\u201d Graham had returned from Ukraine Saturday. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe thought we were going to get it passed,\u201d Trump continued. \u201cThis is a big blow to the SAVE America Act, let me tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"\/>\n<p>The president <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/news-alerts\/this-is-a-big-blow-to-the-save-america-act-trump-uses-lindsey-grahams-death-to-push-stalled-anti-voter-bill\/\" target=\"_blank\">made similar remarks<\/a> on other television programs Sunday morning.<\/p>\n<p>The law would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote or change the name on one\u2019s voter registration, and that voters present ID each time they cast a ballot. Many Americans do not have access to these documents. The legislation would require 60 votes to pass through normal procedure in the Senate, but is opposed by Democrats, making that virtually impossible. <\/p>\n<p>Trump has pressured Senate Republican leadership to find a workaround, urging them to scrap the filibuster, which would allow the bill pass the chamber with only 51 votes. (Republicans, with Graham, had a 53-vote majority.) Senators balked at that. Some have suggested instead doing something they\u2019d call the \u201cSAVE America Act\u201d through budget reconciliation, which also only requires 51 votes \u2014 but is limited to legislation that has to do with the budget. The SAVE America Act would have to be changed beyond recognition to qualify, displeasing Trump. <\/p>\n<p>It seems these kind of details were the nuances Graham attempted to translate for Trump. Graham chaired the budget committee, which would have played a key role in an attempt to pass SAVE through reconciliation<\/p>\n<p>Trump indicated Sunday he intends to play a role in picking the temporary replacement to fill Graham\u2019s seat \u2014 a selection formally made by South Carolina governor Henry McMaster (R) \u2014 and it\u2019s hard to imagine support for the SAVE America Act won\u2019t be a factor for winning his endorsement. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h2-ae10ad52-5f0c-4067-bcb8-35a063c10523\">Trump\u2019s New Assault on Press Freedom<\/h2>\n<p>In a dramatic escalation of its attacks on press freedom, the Trump administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/07\/11\/business\/media\/new-york-times-trump-subpoenas.html\" target=\"_blank\">subpoenaed several New York Times<\/a> reporters over coverage of the new, Qatari-donated Air Force One.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The subpoenas came after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/07\/11\/us\/politics\/white-house-patel-investigation-times.html\" target=\"_blank\">Kash Patel spent Friday at the White House<\/a>, running the investigation from there, the Times reported.<\/li>\n<li>They were signed by Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney in New York who is Trump\u2019s pick for Director of National Intelligence.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThe Trump administration, with its impulsive subpoenas, used vague pretenses of a threat to national security to try to compel our reporters to appear before a grand jury,\u201d Times executive editor Joe Kahn wrote in a memo to staff, obtained by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.status.news\/p\/new-york-times-donald-trump-subpoena\" target=\"_blank\">Status<\/a>. \u201cThe law protects news gatherers from this sort of retaliatory abuse of prosecutorial power.\u201d <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h2-07a24451-31b1-41b5-84ba-726c12f00fd9\">Tabs<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tina Peters 2.0? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/07\/12\/us\/elections\/maricopa-county-election-security.html\" target=\"_blank\">The New York Times<\/a> takes a long look at a bizarre fight in Maricopa County between the Board of Supervisors and the county recorder, whose actions are stoking the fires of election denialism.<\/li>\n<li>Speaking of Tina Peters, she has been on a media tour since having her sentence commuted and, later, meeting with President Trump in person, where, she said, she urged the president to ban the use of voting machines and mail-in ballots. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/voter-fraud-and-suppression\/tina-peters-right-wing-media-tour-endless-conspiracy-theories-about\" target=\"_blank\">Media Matters<\/a> has a rundown of her activities. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h2-9148d62b-08b6-4864-b995-4eaf035393c7\">Man of the Hour<\/h2>\n<div class=\"GalleryImageWrapper\">\n<h2 class=\"GalleryImageWrapper__Title\"\/>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"536\" width=\"804\" src=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2283646126_22ff52.jpg?w=804\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1552009\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2283646126_22ff52.jpg 4252w, https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2283646126_22ff52.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2283646126_22ff52.jpg?resize=804,536 804w, https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2283646126_22ff52.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2283646126_22ff52.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2283646126_22ff52.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2283646126_22ff52.jpg?resize=1000,667 1000w, https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2283646126_22ff52.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2283646126_22ff52.jpg?resize=98,64 98w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 804px) 100vw, 804px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 JULY 1: FBI Director Kash Patel speaks at a press conference announcing Tren de Aragua enforcement efforts at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC on July 1, 2026. (Photo by Nathan Posner\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s <strong>Kash Patel<\/strong>, who, desperate as ever to toot his horn on social media, declared via tweet that, following Graham\u2019s death, \u201cthe FBI is assisting local authorities and has made every necessary resource available.\u201d That, of course, didn\u2019t make sense unless there was foul play \u2014 which there wasn\u2019t reason to suspect. The post stoked conspiracy theories, which were, inevitably, already percolating. Graham likely died of aortic dissection, a tear in the body\u2019s main artery, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2026\/07\/12\/lindsey-graham-longtime-south-carolina-senator-dies-71\/\" target=\"_blank\">a medical examiner\u2019s report<\/a> found. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h2-2f4677ff-45fe-4494-bf4e-65064e3bc71b\">Are We at War?<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/07\/13\/world\/live-news\/iran-war-trump\" target=\"_blank\">Absolutely<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n        appId: \"101800829865996\",\n        xfbml: true,\n        version: ' v2.6'\n      });\n      window.fbAsyncInit.__didInit = true;\n    };\n    (function(d, s, id) {\n      var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n      if (d.getElementById(id)) {\n        return;\n      }\n      js = d.createElement(s);\n      js.id = id;\n      js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n      fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n    }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n  <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Voter Suppression Looms Large in Push to Replace the Senator We heard a lot in the day after Lindsey Graham died at 71 about the way in which the senator played a key roll for the White House, explaining how the Senate worked to Trump. Given the president\u2019s recent, monomaniacal focus on passing the SAVE&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2254685910.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}