With the unexpected death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Senate Republicans have lost more than just a loyal footsoldier, wrote Zachary Schermele for USA Today — they lost a linchpin communicator who smoothed over disagreements between President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress.
And the loss of their "most effective liaison" couldn't have come at a worse moment, he argued.
Republicans, noted Schermele, "have a slim majority in the Senate, and an even slimmer one in the House of Representatives," which has led to paralysis as House lawmakers can't even get together hardliners and leadership to pass rules for regular order. "And they're struggling to reconcile the conflicting demands of an often-unpredictable, but still dominant, party leader in President Donald Trump," he continued, which means things keep getting derailed as Trump protests the failure to pass the voter-restriction package known as the SAVE America Act.
Graham, wrote Schermele, was the one who kept greasing the wheels by flattering Trump and persuading him to go along with House and Senate leadership.
"With vanishingly little time to get much more done before the midterm elections, intraparty disagreements have paralyzed President Trump's agenda in Congress," he continued. Graham was essential to clearing the logjam, because he could "appease both the MAGA crowd and Senate institutionalists" and even had friendships with key Democrats. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) acknowledged that resolving current standoffs will be "challenging" without Graham's help.
Making matters worse, the upcoming primary to replace Graham could even further immobilize the House, because multiple members of Congress, like Reps. Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman, and Russell Fry, have expressed interest in running.
Any of those members hitting the Senate primary campaign trail "could dwindle House Speaker Mike Johnson's two-vote margin," wrote Schermele, who notes that "One South Carolina conservative, longtime Rep. Joe Wilson, already fielded a call over the weekend from Trump, urging him not to run for precisely that reason."