Mark Leibovich: “Senator Lindsey Graham, who died unexpectedly last night, was a pivotal citizen of the Washington conversation. He loved being in the mix, slapping bipartisan backs off camera, and then, when the lights came on, cracking wise, weighing in, and, yes, currying favor with a certain Audience of One.” “What could be more fitting, […]

“Sen. Mitch McConnell said Sunday night his hospitalization was caused by a fall, providing the most detailed update on his health after weeks of silence about his condition and growing questions over the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican’s health,” the Washington Post reports. “McConnell said he wasn’t healthy enough yet to return to the Senate and that […]

Hollywood Reporter: “Over more than two decades in the Senate, Lindsey Graham was one of its most well-known hawks and, in recent years, one of Donald Trump‘s staunchest defenders.” “But the South Carolina Republican has also been among media and pop culture’s favorite legislators — a staple both of the Sunday morning talk shows and […]

“Last summer, as many one-time adversaries of President Trump sought to bury the hatchet with him, he met with someone who seemed like a intractable enemy: his former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen,” the New York Times reports. “Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump had a brief yet significant conversation at the president’s private, […]

“Lindsey Graham had reached the end of his rope on the night of Jan. 6, 2021, declaring his alliance with Donald Trump over,” NOTUS reports.   Said Graham: “Trump and I, we’ve had a helluva journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh my god, I hate it. All I can say is, count […]

“The sudden death over the weekend of Sen. Lindsey Graham is increasing the urgency in the Senate for Sen. Mitch McConnell to return to work to cushion the GOP’s increasingly slim voting majority,” USA Today reports. “McConnell, 84, has been hospitalized for a month, and Graham unexpectedly passed away on Saturday, July 11 – leaving […]

“The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina sets up a succession drama in the deeply conservative state that risks throwing the race into chaos less than four months before the midterm elections,” Bloomberg reports. “He had been set to face off against Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, in November.” “South Carolina Republican […]

“To hear establishment Democrats tell it, Republicans are as excited as progressives about the prospect of Abdul El-Sayed winning a pivotal two-person Democratic U.S. Senate primary in this battleground state on Aug. 4,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The former local public-health official holds left-wing policy views that could turn off swing voters in November’s […]

“For the Iranian regime, keeping a chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz has turned out to be more important than the tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief from the Trump administration,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “That is because Tehran is playing a long game. Iranian officials believe the country has finally emerged […]

“President Donald Trump just revealed the last words U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said to him before his sudden death at 71,” The Wrap reports. Said Trump: “He’s a tough one to lose. He was great. He was unique in every way, actually.” He added: “What makes it even stranger is that I got a […]

“Ukraine’s military will organize a new force tasked with making incursions deep in Russian territory to degrade Moscow’s fighting capabilities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday night,” Politico reports. ”The unit will have a ‘long-range, effectively global, impact on Russia,’ the Ukrainian leader said in his nightly address.” New York Post: Sen. Lindsey Graham […]

Andrew asks: Trump is having a bear of a time trying to get Senate Republicans agree to the SAVE Act, which does genuinely seem to be a voter suppression bill that will benefit Republicans. Join now to continue reading. Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more. If you’re already a member, […]

“Lindsey Graham’s death is poised to upend the Senate, where the GOP majority was already tight and the four-term South Carolina Republican loomed large in several immediate policy fights ahead of the midterms — putting the fate of multiple legislative priorities into question,” Politico reports. “Graham — who died of a ‘brief a sudden illness’ […]

“Just five days before his death, late Sen. Lindsey Graham defiantly scoffed at images of Iranians parading around with a poster of a bullseye on his head,” the New York Post reports.

“Soon after troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Western leaders expelled hundreds of Russian spies from their capitals and blacklisted companies with ties to the Kremlin,” the New York Times reports. “The coordinated effort was intended to make it harder for the Kremlin to collect intelligence and buy equipment like microchips, transmitters and the machinery […]

“Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is the first in what could be a crowded field of candidates expressing interest in the now-open Senate seat after Sen Lindsey Graham died suddenly over the weekend,” CNBC reports. “Graham was seeking reelection at the time of his death and was due to square off against Democrat Annie Andrews in […]

New York Times: “There are a multitude of reasons for the Democratic Socialists of America’s expanding reach in blue states like New York: dissatisfaction with the status quo, anger over Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, concern about the growing affordability crisis.” “But what became clear during the June primaries is that those sources of friction have […]

“The striking prominence of red flags — a Shiite Muslim symbol for vengeance — among the sea of mourners attending the weeklong funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader was considered a none-too-subtle statement that the country should continue the war with the United States,” the New York Times reports. “That is a demand of the […]

“President Donald Trump said on ​Saturday that he had ‘just finished’ a physical at Walter ‌Reed National Military Medical Center, referring to the medical examination he underwent in late May after which the White House said he was ​in excellent health,” Reuters reports. Said Trump: “I just finished a perfect physical at ​Walter Reed, I […]

“Key U.S. weapons stockpiles remain significantly depleted and will come under even more intense pressure if strikes against Iran continue at the current rate, as President Donald Trump reiterated Friday that the ceasefire in the conflict is ‘over,'” CNN reports. “The situation with armaments could impact the American military’s ability to fight a potential future […]

“President Donald Trump marked the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding on July Fourth with a speech touting a roaring stock market, urging election reforms, and hailing military interventions in Venezuela and Iran,” CNN reports. “But another anniversary went conspicuously unmarked: the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by Trump […]

President Trump’s statement: “Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead! He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!! DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO FOLLOW. So sad!”

“President Vladimir V. Putin is in his fifth year of trying to bomb a smaller country into submission. President Trump tried to pull the plug after six weeks, only to be drawn back in,” the New York Times reports. “Neither man has come close to achieving his goals. But the contrast between the relentless killing […]

“Fighting between the U.S. and Iran intensified overnight, with the American military hitting a wide range of new targets and Tehran claiming it had launched attacks on several of Washington’s allies in the region,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The skirmishes represented a higher level of military activity between the two foes since a ceasefire […]

Wall Street Journal: “Emergency personnel responded to a medical emergency for a person suffering from cardiac arrest at Graham’s address on Capitol Hill on Saturday evening, according to a recording of police scanner traffic.”

Punchbowl News: “South Carolina law mandates that GOP Gov. Henry McMaster name a replacement senator who can serve out the rest of Graham’s current term this year.” “But Graham was also up for reelection in November. Republicans will have to hold a primary at some point later this summer to replace Graham on the ballot. […]

“Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican senator from South Carolina, died suddenly on Saturday night,” the Washington Post reports. ”Graham, a leading GOP foreign policy voice, was running for reelection this year. He had been a staunch ally of President Donald Trump on most matters but had broken with the president on some issues.” ”Graham’s death […]

“The U.S. military on Saturday said it had launched strikes on Iran after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hit a ship attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz,” the Washington Post reports. ”The announcement came as Tehran declared the vital waterway closed once again and claimed that it had fired a warning shot on a […]

“President Donald Trump on Saturday mocked the Democratic Party for letting ‘loud and unattractive’ socialists take control — before saying he hopes the Dems can ‘fight back’ before it’s too late,” Mediaite reports. Said Trump: “The Radical Left Lunatics, often referred to as Dumocrats, have lost control of their Party. They are being led by […]

Reason: “At its heart, the otherwise complicated and multi-stage Teapot Dome affair of the 1920s, which until Watergate was considered the greatest federal government scandal of all time, was about secret bribes to an administration official that lubricated lucrative regulatory outcomes.” “In 1921, Interior Secretary Albert Fall clandestinely accepted $404,000 ($7.6 million in today’s money) […]