Politics
Graham’s Death Leaves Senate Republicans One Vote Short on a Key Confirmation
By Mike Harper · July 13, 2026
Todd Blanche needs every single Republican vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee to become attorney general. As of this weekend, the math just got a lot less forgiving.
Sen. Lindsey Graham died suddenly Saturday night from what his office described as a brief illness, days after paramedics were called to his Capitol Hill home for a reported cardiac arrest. He was 71 and running for a fifth term. His seat on the Judiciary Committee, where Blanche’s confirmation hearing begins Wednesday, is now empty — and there’s no replacement in place to fill it.
That leaves the committee at 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. A single GOP defection now stalls Blanche’s nomination outright, rather than simply narrowing his margin. And Graham isn’t the only empty chair complicating Senate business this week. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized since mid-June — reportedly after a cardiac event at his home — and remains at a rehabilitation facility with no clear timeline for his return. Without McConnell and Graham, the Appropriations Committee has gone from a one-vote Republican advantage to a 13-14 Democratic edge, right as Congress heads toward a September 30 government funding deadline.
Blanche was already facing a bumpier path than most attorneys general nominees. Republican senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn have both raised pointed concerns about a settlement Blanche brokered as deputy AG that would shield Trump and his family from future IRS audits — an arrangement Tillis has called “bad policy” and “bad politics.” More than 1,200 former Justice Department employees sent Judiciary Committee leaders a letter this week warning that roughly 16,000 staffers have left the department since Blanche took over as deputy, many of them fired for declining to pursue cases Trump wanted brought against his political opponents.
“With a nominee of this importance, I wait until the hearing has taken place.”
Sen. Susan Collins, who faces a competitive 2026 reelection race, said before deciding how she’ll vote.
Graham’s death carries consequences well beyond Wednesday’s hearing. As chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and a senior member of Appropriations, he was one of the chamber’s most influential Republican voices on foreign policy and defense spending — and one of the last prominent GOP hawks still pushing hard for aid to Ukraine. Days before he died, Graham secured the White House’s blessing for a bipartisan bill imposing sanctions on countries that import Russian oil, a project fellow Sen. Chris Coons said Graham was “jubilant” about finishing. Some of Graham’s allies are now urging Senate leadership to fast-track that bill as a tribute to him.
Who succeeds Graham as Budget Committee chairman is still unsettled; Sens. Ron Johnson and Roger Marshall are considered the most likely candidates. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster will appoint a temporary replacement for Graham’s Senate seat, though his office has said only that an announcement is coming. Because Graham was mid-campaign for reelection, state law appears to trigger a compressed special primary on August 11, with candidate filing opening July 21 — meaning South Carolina Republicans will pick their next nominee before Labor Day.
None of this happens in isolation. Trump is simultaneously asking Congress for an additional $87 billion in defense spending tied to the ongoing conflict with Iran, on top of a proposed 40% increase to the regular Pentagon budget — a request that now lands in front of an Appropriations Committee missing both of its most senior Republican defense hawks.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing for Blanche goes forward Wednesday regardless. What’s no longer clear is whether Republicans can find the votes to get him through it.