Congress
Ron Johnson ‘prepared’ to take over Senate Budget Committee after Graham’s death
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson is poised to take over the Budget Committee in the wake of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden death late Saturday.
The third-term Republican is effectively next in line to wield the committee gavel. Two more senior Republicans, Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Mike Crapo of Idaho, are expected to keep their respective positions atop the Judiciary and Finance panels.
“Senator Johnson is prepared to serve as budget chair when announced,” spokesperson Grace Carnathan said in response to a question about whether he would seek the panel’s chair.
Johnson’s ascension would need to be ratified by the Senate Republican Conference and the full Senate, steps that are typically taken with little fanfare.
As Budget Committee chair, Graham played a key role in Republicans’ two filibuster-skirting reconciliation bills this Congress — last year’s tax-cuts-focused megabill and this year’s effort to fund immigration enforcement for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term.
Claiming the Budget gavel would put Johnson in the middle of the debate over a third attempt at a party-line reconciliation bill.
Johnson, a fiscal hawk who previously called for deep spending cuts during last year’s megabill debate, has been supportive of a third bill. But like many Senate Republicans, he has expressed skepticism it will come together.