Sen. Lindsey Graham laid out a path to pass a funding deal Friday, potentially defusing a standoff that threatens to extend a potential government shutdown set to begin within hours.
Senate Republican leaders believe they can move forward with approval of the spending agreement notched by President Donald Trump and Senate Democrats by offering votes on amendments demanded by the South Carolina Republican — one related to cities that don’t comply with federal immigration laws and two changes related to the defunct investigation into the 2020 election led by former special counsel Jack Smith.
Giving Graham those amendment votes would require sign-on from all 99 of his colleagues.
“I’m asking this body to guarantee me that vote, and we move forward,” Graham said about his sanctuary cities proposal.
Addressing the Smith language, which would have allowed senators to sue for up to $500,000 per incident in damages, Graham said he wants the Senate to vote on substitute language expanding who can sue if their phone records are seized and requiring notification when senators are impacted.
“We’ll fix the $500,000 — count me in — but you took the notification out,” Graham said. “I am demanding a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
The apparent pathway to Senate passage represents a reversal from Thursday night, when the chamber appeared stuck after Graham railed against the spending bill as a “bad deal” and vowed to block its speedy approval.
While there were multiple resolved sticking points as of Thursday night, Graham’s objections were widely viewed as the main obstacle.
Graham’s rebellion is tied to the spending legislation including a House-passed provision undoing a law allowing senators to receive cash payouts if they had their phone records seized by Smith’s investigation.
The provision’s inclusion in the Senate funding agreement was first reported by POLITICO.
Graham, who was among the senators who had records subpoenaed, railed against the provision on Thursday night — though he argued his interest was not personal.
“It’s not about me — 190 private groups had their phone records messed with. I want notification,” Graham said.
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