His work, her watch

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday, July 14th.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Up first, unfinished business.

Yesterday, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster announced his appointment to finish the term of the late Senator Lindsey Graham.

MCMASTER: It's my honor to ask his little sister, Darline Graham, to finish his work for him now.

Graham raised his teenage sister after their parents’ death while he was in college.

NORDONE: Now to Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words, but I'm going to do this. I got it.

REICHARD: The senior South Carolina senator’s death on Saturday comes at a critical moment for Republicans in Congress, allies abroad, and advocates at home.

Graham spent more than 20 years in the Senate, and sat on the powerful Judiciary and Appropriations committees. In 2018, he rallied support to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in the face of a MeToo-style campaign to oppose him.

GRAHAM: I hope you're on the Supreme Court. That's exactly where you should be, and I hope that the American people will see through this charade.

EICHER: He went on to lead the Judiciary committee’s confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020. As Budget committee Chairman, Graham played a leading role passing tax cuts and budget reconciliation bills. And as a staunch pro-life Senator, Graham long called for national protections for the unborn, but also found ways to get incremental wins. Here’s South Carolina Citizens for Life President Lisa Van Riper.

VAN RIPER: We had hoped of course, that there would be an absolute ban on public funding for Planned Parenthood, but what we got instead in the Big Beautiful Bill was a one-year pause on that funding.

Van Riper says Graham’s state and federal legislation had a meaningful effect on the number of abortions.

VAN RIPER: We can document that he's been part of saving over 200,000 lives in South Carolina.

REICHARD: Graham was also an advocate for American alliances abroad, including Israel and NATO. He made ten trips to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, and called for supporting Ukraine with military aid when other Republicans had different ideas.

GRAHAM: We've reached agreement with the White House on a version of the Russian sanctions bill that they will support.

On Friday, Graham told reporters in Ukraine he was working with the White House and Senate colleagues to pass new sanctions on countries buying Russian oil and gas.

GRAHAM: I've never been more optimistic than I am today that we have the formula to end this war.

EICHER: Graham’s death Saturday evening upends that plan…along with other Republican priorities. President Trump told CNN he was discussing priority legislation hours before Graham’s cardiac emergency.

TRUMP: He was pushing very very hard, you probably know, he wanted to pass the Save America Act.

Senate leaders now need to fill Graham’s committee seats…and quickly. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is scheduled to appear before the Judiciary committee tomorrow. And with Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell out for extended health issues, the Republican majority is effectively now 51-47.

Van Riper says it all amounts to considerable setbacks for Republicans…and pro-lifers.

VAN RIPER: That doesn't mean that a new person won't be raised up. I think we just have to wait and see who that is.

REICHARD: Following Monday’s appointment, Darline Graham will serve the rest of her brother’s term through January. She is an optician who currently leads the state’s Commission for the Blind.

South Carolina political advisor Randy Page says Governor McMaster wanted to honor Graham but not yet put a thumb on the scale in the November race to replace him.

PAGE: I don't think he really wanted to give someone a leg up, you know, to where they would have the power of incumbency in the snap primary that'll be held this August.

Candidates will begin filing to run next Tuesday.

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