Darline Graham Bucks Thune, Supports Passing SAVE America Act
There’s another major update on Republicans grappling with how to pass the SAVE America Act.
South Carolina GOP. Sen. Darline Graham said Monday she is ready to hold up the Senate’s summer escape route unless lawmakers vote on the SAVE America Act.
Graham said the election-integrity bill is a “top priority” and promised to remain in Washington as President Donald Trump pushes Senate Majority Leader John Thune to keep the chamber open.
“President Trump is 100% correct. The SAVE America Act is top priority. I will stay here as long as necessary to get it passed and signed into law,” said Graham, the sister of the late Lindsey Graham, who is currently serving the remainder of his term through January 2027.
“I came to Washington to fight for the people of South Carolina and deliver on our conservative agenda,” Graham said.
The move puts Graham in direct alignment with Trump and a growing bloc of Republican senators who are demanding action before the Senate leaves town.
Trump unloaded on Thune Monday, saying senators should not be allowed to go home until they pass the SAVE America Act or eliminate the filibuster.
“John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER, where Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of, including a full and deep throated SAVE AMERICA ACT, the Budget, and the ever looming Debt Ceiling disaster, 1929!” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday. “The Dumocrats will do it on day one, and can’t believe how lucky they got with this Senate leadership. Remember, stupidity always brings LOSING & DEATH!”
The SAVE America Act would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and photo ID at the polls.
For conservatives, this is not hard.
If only eligible citizens are allowed to vote, then voters ought to have to prove their eligibility.
But the bill has run into the same old wall in the Senate, with Democrats blocking it and some Republicans warning there aren’t enough votes to break a filibuster.
Thune has said repeatedly that the chamber does not have the votes to pass the bill under current Senate rules.
And Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina has gone further, calling attempts to force the issue a “waste of time.”
Trump allies have been furious about that, viewing the SAVE Act as a bill that must pass before the 2026 midterms.
The first senator to publicly threaten to object to the recess unless the Senate moves on the election bill was Utah’s Sen. Mike Lee.
Republican Sens. Jim Banks of Indiana, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Ashley Moody of Florida and Rick Scott of Florida also have called for cancelling the break.
Graham’s decision adds another voice to the growing campaign.
Her position is particularly notable because she was sworn in July 14 to replace her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died unexpectedly from an aortic rupture.
She’s not easing into the job, but rather wading right into a fight with Senate leadership over one of Trump’s top priorities.
Last week, House Republicans approved legislation that not only funds key national security agencies but also sets up what could become one of the biggest legislative battles of the year over proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting.
The House voted 217-209 to pass a fiscal year 2027 appropriations bill funding the State Department, national security programs, and other federal priorities.
One Democrat joined Republicans in supporting the measure, while one Republican voted against it.
To satisfy conservative lawmakers, House leaders attached the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act to the legislation before sending it to the Senate using a legislative procedure known as MIRVing.
Democratic KY Gov. Beshear Demands McConnell Speak Up Or Resign
Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell is recovering from a fall last month that resulted in his release from the hospital, but he is not yet “medically cleared” to return to the Senate.
His office gave the latest update Monday on the longtime Senate Republican, who has been absent from the upper chamber and the public eye for more than a month.
Now, Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear is demanding McConnell either verbally address Kentucky constituents to prove he can still serve or resign his seat.
In a letter sent Monday to McConnell and his staff, Beshear insisted on greater transparency after the senator’s prolonged absence following a fall.
The letter, first reported by Axios, was also copied to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
“I understand anyone’s desire for privacy, but when you run for office and serve as one of a state’s two U.S. senators, you willingly abdicate much of your personal privacy. That’s the deal, and we all know it when we run,” Beshear wrote.
The governor added that speculation over McConnell’s health “could be avoided with the minimal amount of transparency.”
He further stated: “As Governor of the state you serve, I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign.”
Beshear addressed the letter directly to McConnell “under the assumption that he is capable of reading and responding verbally, and not incapacitated by any means of consciousness or cognition.”
If not, he demanded McConnell’s Senate staff be “honest and transparent with the people of Kentucky.”
Beshear previously urged Senate GOP Leader John Thune to investigate McConnell’s fitness to serve.
In the new letter, he warned that if McConnell does not voluntarily demonstrate capacity, he would press Thune to fully investigate, report findings to the public, and “begin the process if warranted,” noting that a Senate vacancy occurs through death, resignation, or expulsion by Senate vote.
Earlier this week, the Office of the Attending Physician said in a statement that McConnell “continues his recovery from a fall at home in June.”
“OAP physicians visit with the senator every day, discussing all aspects of his rehabilitation care,” the Office of the Attending Physician said.
“Since his discharge from hospital care, he has maintained a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, including multiple sessions a day designed to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls,” the Office of the Attending Physician added.
“His bout with childhood polio continues to be a significant factor in his mobility,” they continued. “He is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office.”
The latest word from McConnell-world comes after weeks of speculation that have generated a ravenous rumor mill that has churned out allegations that the longest-serving Republican leader in Senate history was dead or in a vegetative state.
Republicans are sprinting to clear decks of several legislative priorities where McConnell’s vote could be needed, including on advancing a Russia sanctions package and confirming blockbuster nominees, and his extended absence and murky timeline for his return to the Senate come as these issues are coming to a head.
The most recent tweet included a photo of McConnell and his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, taken on Sunday, and a statement from the lawmaker in which he lamented that he would not be able to attend the annual barbecue at Fancy Farm, Kentucky, which has become a staple for him and politicians to speak in the Blue Grass State, because of his recovery.
The sequence of events began June 14, when McConnell was admitted to a Washington-area hospital after a fall at his home left him briefly unconscious.
On July 12, McConnell broke his silence with a detailed personal statement and a photo alongside his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
He explained that childhood polio had left him with lifelong mobility challenges that “haven’t exactly gotten easier to manage with age.”
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The fall, he said, left him briefly unconscious but produced no broken bones, concussion, heart attack, stroke, tumors, or hemorrhages.
While hospitalized, he developed a mild case of pneumonia that responded to antibiotics. He had since moved to a rehabilitation center “where I’ll keep regaining my strength.”
