{"id":5613,"date":"2026-07-14T05:48:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5613"},"modified":"2026-07-14T05:48:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:48:06","slug":"senate-looks-to-honor-graham-with-russia-sanctions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5613","title":{"rendered":"Senate looks to honor Graham with Russia sanctions"},"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<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/TDkIB5D3tquKNWO-gmh_pbPxwK4=\/0x0:7798x4386\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/13\/1783979222231.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Senators from both parties are rallying around a revised <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/09\/11\/senate-russia-sanctions-state-sponsor-terror\" target=\"_blank\">Russia sanctions package<\/a> to honor the legacy of the late Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/12\/lindsey-graham-dies-john-mccain-trump\" target=\"_blank\">Lindsey Graham<\/a> (R-S.C.).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters:<\/strong> Bipartisanship is in short supply in the Senate. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/12\/lindsey-graham-dies-suddenly-71\" target=\"_blank\">Graham&#8217;s sudden death<\/a> may briefly revive it.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<ul>\n<li>Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said passing the updated sanctions bill \u2014 which has 85 cosponsors \u2014 &#8220;would be a great tribute to the legacy of Lindsey.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;I urge Senator Thune, in honor of Lindsey, to put the Russia sanctions bill on the floor immediately,&#8221; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. &#8220;It will pass overwhelmingly and help our allies in Ukraine.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;This would be a good way to show us in a bipartisan way coming together on something that he was literally using some of his last breaths to fight for,&#8221; Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J) said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Driving the news: <\/strong>The mechanics of replacing Graham are moving quickly.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At President Trump&#8217;s urging, South Carolina Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/13\/lindsey-graham-senate-replacement-darline-nordone\" target=\"_blank\">Henry McMaster<\/a> appointed Graham&#8217;s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to serve out the remainder of his term. Nordone <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DISivak\/status\/2076787174016500048\" target=\"_blank\">will be sworn in<\/a> at 2:30pm Tuesday.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sen. Ron Johnson<\/strong> (R-Wis.) is expected to take over as chair of the Budget Committee after Graham&#8217;s death.<\/li>\n<li>Meanwhile, potential candidates are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/13\/trump-graham-sister-senate\" target=\"_blank\">already jockeying<\/a> to run for a full six-year term in the 2026 election.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom out:<\/strong> The Senate, on several occasions, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/10\/21\/senate-foreign-relations-russia-sanctions\" target=\"_blank\">has been close<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/09\/11\/senate-russia-sanctions-state-sponsor-terror\" target=\"_blank\">advancing foreign policy legislation<\/a> drafted by Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>But then Trump would urge Republicans to hold off, giving his administration room to pursue its own pressure campaign against Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/li>\n<li>In a meeting in Ankara, Turkey, late last week with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Graham and other senators emerged convinced they had resolved the administration&#8217;s concerns. Graham briefed Trump on their progress <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/12\/lindsey-graham-israel-saudi-peace-iran\" target=\"_blank\">in a Saturday night phone call<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>&#8220;We are proud to announce that we have reached an agreement with the Trump Administration to move our updated Russia sanctions legislation forward,&#8221; Graham, Blumenthal and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said in a joint statement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom in:<\/strong> The spirit of the updated bill remains the same, but the substance differs.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The initial bill would have imposed tariffs of up to 500% on countries, including China, that continue purchasing Russian oil and gas. The updated version narrows the scope of those penalties.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Between the lines:<\/strong> Senators continued to grapple Monday with Graham&#8217;s unexpected death. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Thune fought back tears during remarks on the Senate floor as colleagues reflected on Graham&#8217;s influence.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;There are no words to describe his impact on the foreign and domestic policy of the United States,&#8221; Wicker said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Blumenthal recalled<\/strong> his final extended conversation with Graham over the weekend.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;He exulted at reaching an agreement on our Russian sanctions bill and said, &#8216;This is a big effing deal.'&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The bottom line:<\/strong> The original sanctions bill has already cleared the House, but they also want to change it. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;It would be very appropriate to name this the &#8216;Lindsey Graham Sanctions Act,'&#8221; said Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.). &#8220;The way to restrain Putin is indeed to bankrupt the oligarchs.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senators from both parties are rallying around a revised Russia sanctions package to honor the legacy of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Why it matters: Bipartisanship is in short supply in the Senate. Graham&#8217;s sudden death may briefly revive it. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said passing the updated sanctions bill \u2014 which&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/TDkIB5D3tquKNWO-gmh_pbPxwK4=\/0x0:7798x4386\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/13\/1783979222231.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5613","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\/5613","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=5613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}