NPR News: 07-12-2026 11AM EDT

President Donald Trump called into a press event this morning to praise the late South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who died Saturday night. Graham had just returned to Washington from a fact-finding trip to Ukraine and was scheduled to appear on Meet the Press to discuss it. Trump, who once called Graham a political rival before the senator became one of his biggest supporters, said on the call: "He was really a worker. He sounded great actually, but he was tired." Graham's death further thins an already narrow Republican majority in Congress, making it harder to pass major legislation.

A Thinning Majority and a Full Agenda

The Republican majority in Congress was already slim, and Graham's death makes it slimmer. Adding to the challenge, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized since mid-June, with little information released about his condition. Congress returns to session tomorrow facing a heavy workload. Top priorities include passing the National Defense Authorization Act and an emergency supplemental funding request from the Pentagon to help pay for the war in Iran. President Trump is also demanding the Senate pass an elections bill that would, among other things, curtail mail-in voting. With two seats effectively empty, the margin for error on any of these bills is razor-thin.

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