'A big effing deal': Graham's final mission moves forward after his death
Of the many political crusades the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., undertook, few were as front of mind for him than crippling Russia’s war machine in its conflict with Ukraine.Yet...
By Fox News · Fox News
Of the many political crusades the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., undertook, few were as front of mind for him than crippling Russia’s war machine in its conflict with Ukraine. Yet during the last year-and-a-half of President Donald Trump’s second term, momentum behind a bone-crushing sanctions package against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin would start and stop, with hopes rising and falling for its proponents every few months. Earlier this year, Graham had similarly gotten a green light from the White House for a different iteration of the package. SENATE DEMS DRAW RARE LINE AGAINST MUST-PASS PENTAGON BILL "It's never going back on the shelf because President Trump believes he needs it," Graham told Fox News Digital at the time. "I think he needs it." Hours before his death, he again got confirmation that the White House supported his and Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s, D-Conn., latest offering. "Senator Graham and I were told, very authoritatively, literally just a couple of hours before his death, that the White House was OK with this," Blumenthal said. "We were exalted, he was as exuberant and as over the moon as I’ve ever seen him." And on Tuesday, the same day that Graham’s sister, Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., was sworn in, Blumenthal and a bipartisan group of over a dozen senators unveiled the long-awaited Russia sanctions package. "I guess I'm going to begin by channeling my inner Lindsey Graham to say, ‘This is a big effing deal,’" Blumenthal said. LINDSEY GRAHAM'S SISTER CARRIES ON LATE SENATOR'S WORK, BECOMING SOUTH CAROLINA'S FIRST FEMALE SENATOR The Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026 is the culmination of more than a year of work and closed-door negotiations across the aisle and with 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. It’s one that this time many senators believe it can pass. Many of the core aspects of the legislation are the same: direct sanctions on Putin, Russian officials and Russian military leaders, up to 500% tariffs on Russian imports , tariff…