Senate Passes Russia Sanctions Act, Names It After Dead Senator To Speed Up Votes
KEY POINTS
- •Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed to expedite the Russia sanctions bill after Lindsey Graham's death in July 2026.
- •South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster appointed Graham’s sister Darline Graham Nordone to finish his Senate term, with her swearing-in set for Tuesday afternoon.
- •The sanctions bill, trimmed from 500% tariffs on Russian oil buyers like China, has overwhelming support and representatives like Joe Wilson want it named after Graham.
In what’s shaping up as Congress’s most efficient bipartisan moment since someone figured out fidget spinners, Senators from both parties rallied around the revised Russia sanctions bill that late Senator Lindsey Graham fought for even on what reporters imagine were his final breaths. Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are both begging to hurry this along, with the bill cosponsored by a whopping 85 senators looking less like legislation and more like a Senate reunion tour tribute act. Meanwhile, Gov. Henry McMaster played political hot potato by plopping Graham's sister Darline Nordone into Lindsey’s empty Senate seat by 2:30 pm Tuesday — because nothing says democracy like sibling succession. Ron Johnson awaits the Budget chair like it’s Black Friday for senators. The original plan to slap up to 500% tariffs on Russia oil buyers like China was diplomatically downsized, apparently after a turkey chat between Graham, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and a phone date with Trump, proving nothing screams 'foreign policy' like weekend conference calls with suits and sudden deaths. Representative Joe Wilson insists the bill be named 'Lindsey Graham Sanctions Act,' presumably to make Putin’s oligarchs feel as financially gutted as Senate decorum. Quotes include Thune almost crying and Blumenthal calling the deal 'a big effing deal,' capturing Congressional depth and poetry perfectly.
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(1 of 3)Only in Washington does a bill get sprinted through Senate floor while a dead senator’s sister gets appointed mid-day, all to slap 500% tariffs on Russia’s pals less China because diplomacy apparently means a hangout in Turkey and a late-night Trump phone call.
Lindsey Graham’s dying wish apparently was that his corpse keep Congress working harder on Russia sanctions than on actual crises. Bold strategy, Cotton.
Remember when 'bipartisan cooperation' sounded like a myth? Now it’s officially revived by a senator’s death and his sister’s fast-track Senate audition.
Source: Axios | Published: 7/13/2026 | Author: Hans Nichols
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