MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Congress returns from their July Fourth recess today. With the death of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Mitch McConnell's continued absence, Republicans face even tighter margins.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
And President Trump's nominee for attorney general has his confirmation hearing set for this week.
MARTIN: Joining us now to talk about all this is NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales. Claudia, good morning to you.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So Congress is already coming back to a pretty long to-do list this week before the sudden death of Senator Graham. What is on that agenda?
GRISALES: Right. Senate Republicans scheduled a hearing for President Trump's attorney general nominee. This is Todd Blanche. But since Graham was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee set to hear from him, what exactly comes next is unclear, given some Republicans' existing concerns about Blanche. Separately, Trump's nominee to be the top intelligence chief - this is Jay Clayton - he is due before another Senate committee for his bid for confirmation. And two Supreme Court justices are also slated for rare testimony as part of an annual appropriations process. And in the midst of all this, lawmakers are also facing questions about the Iran war, the funding and, more broadly, their oversight.
MARTIN: Does Graham's death change the calculus on these priorities?
GRISALES: Yes. To start, he was chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, which will need to recalibrate their plans. And, of course, he had this outsized role on foreign policy. Lawmakers in both chambers say they're now anxious to tackle a Russia sanctions bill that Graham, in his last press conference on Friday, said the White House had signed off on, and he also said he was more optimistic than ever that they had found a formula to end Russia's war with Ukraine.
I talked to Texas GOP Congressman Michael McCaul about this, and he said he's determined, along with other members, to rename the bill in Graham's honor and start moving it this week. Graham was also set to play a key role in pushing the annual defense policy bill. So his absence will be felt as lawmakers try to address this. And, of course, South Carolina will have to sort out what to do with the vacancy that Graham leaves.
MARTIN: So I think it's fair to say that the Republicans' agenda was at a standstill before the recess over Trump's proposal for this new voting law, something that we've been reporting on extensively. So what's happening with that?
GRISALES: Right. We especially saw that in the House. Last month, a group of hard-right GOP lawmakers brought work there to a halt over Trump's demand that they pass the SAVE America Act. That's the voting bill that would require proof of citizenship and photo ID in order to vote. And that's not the only thing Trump's push for the SAVE Act derailed. You might remember he canceled the signing ceremony for landmark housing legislation that passed with huge bipartisan majorities. But it doesn't look like Trump is letting go of the SAVE Act. On NBC's "Meet The Press" with Kristen Welker, Trump said it came up in a conversation with Graham hours before his death. Graham was on his flight back to the U.S. after a trip to Ukraine.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MEET THE PRESS")
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Think of it. He's traveling for many, many hours. That's a long flight. That's a long trip. And he, you know, calls me about the SAVE America Act. He thought we were going to get it passed.
MARTIN: Do lawmakers expect President Trump to keep his hand so heavily involved on Capitol Hill?
GRISALES: They really hope not. However, Speaker Mike Johnson's been trying to thread the needle between his demands and the party's broader agenda ahead of the midterms. We should be clear - the SAVE Act was already going nowhere in the Senate because it does not have the votes. So while Trump has shown this greater appetite to insert himself in congressional plans, there's hope in Congress for a new sense of unity to get all these priorities done as the midterms loom.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Claudia Grisales. Claudia, thank you.
GRISALES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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