Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden death over the weekend has intensified a problem that was already hampering the GOP’s plans on defense spending: Sen. Mitch McConnell’s health.
After being hospitalized on June 14, McConnell’s monthlong absence has left lawmakers wondering when he might return. More urgently, it has created practical problems for Republicans at a pivotal moment for the Pentagon’s budget — a topic over which McConnell has disproportionate control.
Now, Graham’s death only complicates those problems.
McConnell and Graham served as two of the most powerful advocates for a hawkish foreign policy — foils to some of the more isolationist voices in President Donald Trump’s administration. Their absence from the Appropriations Committee — which previously had a one-vote Republican advantage — leaves federal spending work stalled.
McConnell, the chairman of the subcommittee that oversees Pentagon funding, has been unable to preside over hearings since he was hospitalized more than four weeks ago. His absence has left Republicans without their chief architect on defense spending in the Senate.
And Graham’s unexpected death leaves Republicans without their most powerful advocate for foreign aid and soft power in Trump’s orbit.
The timing couldn’t be worse for Republicans. President Donald Trump has resumed military strikes against Iran and is seeking an additional $87 billion spending bill to support the war, on top of his proposed 40% boost to the regular defense budget.
The timetable for the Kentucky Republican’s return is open-ended. McConnell released a statement on Sunday saying he had been hospitalized after a fall, subsequently dealt with mild pneumonia and now has moved out of the hospital to a rehabilitation facility. He added that, “on the advice of my doctors, I won’t be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet.”
The statement included a photograph of McConnell sitting alongside his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, with his hand subtly on that day’s edition of The Washington Post sports section — a potential effort to reassure the public that the photo was recent.
In the meantime, his absence has already stalled work on annual government funding bills, complicating negotiations that were already deadlocked over topline spending levels and increasing the likelihood Congress will need another stopgap spending bill after Sept. 30.
Absent a breakthrough, Congress could once again be stumbling toward a government shutdown.
After passing the baton as Senate majority leader to South Dakota’s John Thune, McConnell picked up the gavel for the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, one of the most influential posts on Capitol Hill. The role allowed him to remain a central voice on national security — along with Graham, who chaired the subcommittee that funds the State Department.
McConnell’s absence caused the Appropriations Committee — where Republicans previously had a one-vote advantage — to delay preliminary work on spending bills, postponing a June 25 markup of four bills when it became clear McConnell wouldn’t be available. The markup remained on hold because of McConnell’s absence, a person familiar with the situation told MS NOW, even before Graham’s death shrunk the GOP ranks even further.
In Graham’s case, Republicans can appoint a replacement to the Appropriations Committee, though they have yet to do so. But McConnell’s absence is harder to solve; Republicans can’t simply replace the subcommittee chairman — particularly when he’s showing signs of coming back at some point.
Without McConnell, GOP committee leaders can’t advance partisan spending bills on their own, leaving negotiations even more dependent on bipartisan agreement at a time when lawmakers remain deeply divided over defense and domestic spending.
Without McConnell, GOP committee leaders can’t advance partisan spending bills on their own, leaving negotiations even more dependent on bipartisan agreement at a time when lawmakers remain deeply divided over defense and domestic spending.
Close allies have said they’ve spoken to McConnell, but rank-and-file members have been waiting for more information.
“Some of my colleagues have spoken with him, and we are praying for his quick recovery,” Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., told reporters Thursday. But Ricketts said he hadn’t personally talked to McConnell and wasn’t sure when or if he would return.
“I don’t know,” Ricketts said. “We’ll find out, probably, when we get back on Monday.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Majority Whip John Barrasso R-Wyo., have both said they spoke with McConnell by phone last week, according to their spokespeople. And former adviser Scott Jennings — who’s now a CNN commentator — also said he had spoken with the senator, though CNN later clarified Jennings was describing a personal conversation and is “not a full-time employee or journalist for the network.”
Thune previously told reporters on June 22 he had spoken to McConnell. And Thune reported that McConnell was “anxious to get back.”
But other members are skeptical.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote on X that many senators “aren’t speaking about Mitch McConnell’s condition because we know nothing about his condition.”
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., raised the prospect of McConnell stepping down.
“If McConnell is in as bad a shape as Biden ever was — or worse — he needs to step aside,” Mace wrote on X. “This charade can’t continue. We can’t demand of others what we won’t demand of ourselves.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, sent McConnell a letter last Wednesday, asking for an update.
“Over the last several weeks, Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and wellbeing, and ability to hold office in the United States Senate,” Beshear wrote. “As Governor, I request that you fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health.”
Trump, meanwhile, has shown little interest publicly in McConnell’s condition. “I have no idea how he’s doing,” the president told reporters last week.
McConnell had publicly sparred with the Trump administration over defense spending only days before his hospitalization. During a June 9 hearing, he criticized Trump’s circuitous plan to pass a $1.5 trillion defense budget by funding nearly $1.2 trillion through regular funding bills, plus $350 billion through the trickier, partisan reconciliation process.
McConnell, who supports a large increase in military spending, said relying on a reconciliation bill to complete the defense budget is “a recipe for major disruptions in the very possible event that party-line reconciliation fails.”
But McConnell has been silent about Trump’s request, submitted June 24, for a one-time $87.6 billion spending bill to fund the war with Iran, along with other measures including the Ebola response and Penn Station improvements. McConnell staffers declined to say whether he’s reviewed the request.
Of course, some behind-the-scenes work can continue while McConnell is in the hospital. Staffers for McConnell and Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., who chairs the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, have been in regular contact while McConnell has been in the hospital, according to a person close to Calvert.
McConnell’s absence comes as Congress is already badly behind on annual appropriations work. The House has passed only two of its 12 spending bills, while the Senate has yet to release a single draft.
The delayed Senate Appropriations Committee markup had already been postponed once, amid partisan fights over spending levels, before McConnell’s absence caused another delay. And Republicans, while divided on the prospects of a defense spending boost through reconciliation, have written off the idea of cooperation from Democrats.
“My Democratic colleagues don’t want defense to be funded,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters on June 23. “They’re not cooperating on any of the appropriation bills.”
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has been frustrated with the lack of an agreement on high-level spending allocations for defense and nondefense funds. Those negotiations have continued to be unproductive for nearly a month and a half. On June 1, Murray summed up the state of negotiations.
“I’m not happy,” she said.
For now, Republicans are forced to focus more on McConnell’s health than on the details of stalled funding negotiations. For all the fights over defense spending, the most pressing question surrounding the committee remains a personal one: when McConnell might be healthy enough to return to the Senate.
Lawmakers don’t know the answer yet. And with the Senate’s defense funding work stalled and no timetable for his return, Republicans are left waiting for answers that have been in short supply for more than a month.
Mychael Schnell contributed to this report.
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