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\n

Darline Graham was appointed to her late brother\u2019s Senate seat to carry on his legacy \u2014 but Republicans don\u2019t expect her to follow his exact same trajectory.<\/p>\n

In the handful of statements, interviews and news conferences since Lindsey Graham\u2019s sudden death on July 11, Darline Graham has emphasized that while the two siblings were shaped by the same shared history, she will bring her own style and interests to the Senate.<\/p>\n

Her lack of political experience and public exposure, however, has left few clues for deciphering how she\u2019ll approach her new job. It\u2019s relevant now as the younger Graham has quickly shown she\u2019s not just a caretaker finishing out the last few months of her brother\u2019s term, but also a politician launching a campaign for a full six-year stint.<\/p>\n

That means she\u2019ll have to thread a tricky political needle as she works to honor Lindsey Graham\u2019s memory by trying to get some of his biggest pet projects passed \u2014 while also moving swiftly to build her profile as she competes in a crowded Republican primary this August with President Donald Trump\u2019s blessing.<\/p>\n

\u201cDarline Graham is going to be an outstanding continuation of Lindsey Graham\u2019s work for South Carolina, plus more,\u201d Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso told reporters. \u201cShe has a very good finger on the pulse of what the people of South Carolina care about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barrasso pointed to her work in \u201chuman needs\u201d \u2014 a nod to her previous leadership of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind. That\u2019s a different focus than that of her brother, a one-time Air Force military judge<\/a> who was known for his work in national security, defense and foreign policy.<\/p>\n

But the Wyoming Republican, when pressed for details about where he thought the two Grahams might split or overlap, acknowledged that \u201cI haven\u2019t had a discussion on each of the policy issues with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sentiment was echoed by three other Senate Republicans who conceded they don\u2019t know yet what she stands for or what issues she\u2019ll champion.<\/p>\n

According to these senators, granted anonymity to speak freely, Graham did not give remarks during Tuesday\u2019s closed-door lunch when her committee assignments were announced \u2014 though they said they understood that their new colleague might be most focused for the time being on honoring her late brother ahead of the memorials scheduled for next week.<\/p>\n

Darline Graham entered the Senate with no apparent previous political experience; Lindsey Graham, by comparison, was well known in Washington and on the international stage after spending more than three decades in Congress, first in the House and then in the Senate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody really knows who she is quite yet,\u201d said Jeff Davis, chair of the Greenville County Republican Party.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut she is her own person and different than Lindsey Graham,\u201d Davis said. \u201cSo from our perspective, we\u2019re certainly willing to give her the opportunity and chance, you know, to prove herself to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since joining the Senate last week following Gov. Henry McMaster\u2019s appointment, Darline Graham has taken several votes on the Senate floor, each in line with the GOP. That includes helping to confirm Kara Westercamp<\/a>, a nominee for a seat on the U.S. Court of International Trade, who has had to apologize for making critical comments of her late brother and other Republicans in the past.<\/p>\n

Graham is inheriting her brother\u2019s congressional staff, helping ease her transition into the Senate but also providing her a similar kitchen cabinet of trusted experts and advisers to guide her. Incidentally, she\u2019s also inheriting all of Lindsey Graham\u2019s committee seats on Judiciary, Appropriations, Budget and Environment and Public Works.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a committed conservative with fierce determination, I will use my position on these panels to secure resources for South Carolina, advance President Trump\u2019s judicial nominees and ensure federal dollars are spent responsibly,\u201d Graham said in a statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who heads an internal panel responsible for deciding committee seats, said in an interview that giving Graham her late brother\u2019s seats \u201cwasn\u2019t automatic,\u201d but that the decision was made after internal deliberations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just determined that that was the best procedure to move forward because we\u2019re so close to the end of the session,\u201d Crapo said.<\/p>\n

While Republicans don\u2019t expect her to be able to fill Lindsey Graham\u2019s shoes on foreign affairs, an area where he had years of experience and a deep bench of personal relationships, she is quickly grabbing the mantle of one of his biggest priorities: trying to pass a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill through the Senate.<\/p>\n

Lindsey Graham announced a framework for a sanctions package shortly before his death; Darline Graham made the proposal, which is now named in her brother\u2019s honor, the first formal bill she introduced.<\/p>\n

She is working behind the scenes to try to help build support and get the bill through the Senate, something she discussed with Senate Majority Leader John Thune on the floor Monday night. She also told Trump during their White House meeting last week that she wanted to get the measure passed in Lindsey Graham\u2019s honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe obviously carries on Lindsey\u2019s legacy,\u201d Thune, who hasn\u2019t endorsed in the Senate race, told reporters this week. \u201cBut I think she\u2019s a very accomplished person in her own right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some Republicans, however, believe she also wants an additional statement of support from Trump for the sanctions bill before it moves in the Senate, according to two people granted anonymity to speak candidly \u2014 after the president added a curveball into negotiations by posting on Truth Social he wanted Iran sanctions added to the package, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the question has to do with adding Iran and how that\u2019s done,\u201d Thune said in an interview when asked about Darline Graham\u2019s approach on the Russia sanctions bill. \u201cBut I think to her credit, Sen. Graham \u2026 wants to make sure that the White House is behind whatever that approach is.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said that Graham \u201cdid not say nor did she imply\u201d that she wanted an additional statement of support from Trump, adding that \u201cshe is extremely pleased with President Trump\u2019s support for the legislation and is working closely with him to move it forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham also announced Tuesday that the first existing bill she is co-sponsoring is the SAVE America Act, the GOP\u2019s election overhaul bill that is the president\u2019s top priority and components of which her late brother, just before his death, was working to incorporate into the party\u2019s third budget reconciliation bill. <\/p>\n

Even as Graham is aiming to finish some of her brother\u2019s work, she\u2019s also indicating that she will focus, for the most part, more on domestic policy than foreign policy.<\/p>\n

Graham\u2019s office did not make her available for an interview, but she told Fox News\u2019 Sean Hannity during her first TV appearance since joining the Senate that she often questioned her brother on why he would use his frequent media hits to primarily discuss national security issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that\u2019s important. Protecting our borders, national security, absolutely,\u201d Graham said. \u201cI said, \u2018But talk about also what matters to the average person. The price of groceries, the price of gas, health care. Insurance, those kind of things.\u2019 That\u2019s what I\u2019m worried about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republicans also view Darline Graham as a more introverted personality not as inclined to seek out the spotlight \u2014 especially in comparison to her deeply extroverted brother, who gabbed with reporters around the Capitol and relished his unofficial role as a backchannel between Senate Republicans and Trump, serving as an adviser to the latter.<\/p>\n

Graham tipped her hand toward the likely differences, saying in an open letter to constituents Saturday that \u201cI am not Lindsey. I have my own way of doing things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we were raised with the same values,\u201d she said, adding that she\u2019s \u201cspent my career helping South Carolinians with disabilities find employment and live independently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) told POLITICO last week<\/a> that Darline Graham \u201cunderstood what drove Lindsey. \u2026 It\u2019s in her blood. It\u2019s in her DNA.\u201d But Britt deferred to the newest senator when asked Tuesday how she might be different.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, I\u2019m sure, like all of us, we love and respect our family,\u201d Britt said. \u201c[But] we\u2019re our own people, so you\u2019re going to have to ask her those questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samuel Benson contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Darline Graham was appointed to her late brother\u2019s Senate seat to carry on his legacy \u2014 but Republicans don\u2019t expect her to follow his exact same trajectory. In the handful of statements, interviews and news conferences since Lindsey Graham\u2019s sudden death on July 11, Darline Graham has emphasized that while the two siblings were shaped […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}