WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader John Thune told The Post he’s unsure if “any one person” in the Senate could fill the void on foreign policy left by Lindsey Graham’s sudden death, hailing the South Carolinian giant as a “really effective voice” on key issues.
Thune (R-SD) stressed that the Senate GOP Conference has many foreign policy buffs and believes there will be an opportunity for someone to take up Sen. Graham’s mantle as the most prominent advocate for a muscular approach.
“There are people who care a lot about those issues in the conference. Lindsey obviously had the capacity and the experience and the knowledge base to make him just a really, really effective voice and spokesperson,” the Senate GOP boss told The Post.
“I don’t know if it’s any one person in particular,” he added. “I think there’s going to be an opportunity for somebody to step into that. I’m not sure exactly who that is at this point.”
Thune named Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) as one lawmaker who could wind up becoming one of the more prominent voices on foreign policy within the Senate GOP.
Graham died suddenly of heart issues late Saturday evening. Ahead of his death, he was pushing for normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a sanctions package against Russia, and a more aggressive posture toward Iran.
On Tuesday, the Senate swore in Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to take his place on an interim basis.
“I think she is very interested in continuing Lindsey’s work and her appointment, I think, is a great tribute to his legacy,” Thune said. “She is very interested in continuing the things that were priorities for him.
“I think it’s going to be really good.”
Thune paid tribute to Graham on the Senate floor Monday, which marked a rare instance in which the majority leader choked up publicly.
The towering lawmaker recalled how Graham had “an incredible wit” and “was very quick.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined the Senate GOP Conference during their lunch on Tuesday and reminisced with his former colleagues about Graham.
Some have pushed for the Senate to pass the sanctions package against countries that purchase oil from Russia to honor Graham, who was optimistic that President Trump would sign it just before he died.
Thune also believes it’s “absolutely” a great idea to rename that bill after his late colleague.
“If and when this happens, it’ll be largely a result of his determination and just resilience and relentless advocating on behalf of that bill,” Thune said. “He’s been working on this for a long time, and you know it will be very fitting to have his name on it.”
Trump expressed openness to the sanctions package — and indicated that Republicans may add Iran and Hezbollah to it.
“We’re testing that. I had a conversation with the president,” Thune said. “I think the sponsors of the bill on both sides are sort of trying to figure that out. But that’s something I know the president is interested in, and we’ll just see how it affects the vote count.”
