GOP Leader Thune ‘Hopeful’ Senate Will Pass Russia Sanctions Bill as ‘Incredible Legacy’ to Lindsey Graham

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said he was “hopeful” about passing a tough new Russian sanctions bill after the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), saying it would be an “incredible legacy” to honor his colleague.

Graham, 71, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday. The preliminary cause of death was aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to a statement released by the senator’s office. His younger sister, Darline Graham Nordone, was appointed Monday by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) to finish Graham’s term.

The South Carolina senator was a staunch advocate for supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, and the day before his death, he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

Zelensky posted that he was “deeply saddened” when he heard of Graham’s passing and that he would “always be especially grateful” for the senator’s support.

Thune was on Monday’s episode of CNN’s Inside Edition to talk to anchor Dana Bash about Graham’s legacy, and she asked about some of Graham’s final public comments regarding a bipartisan agreement for a new Russian sanctions bill.

“Is that still going to happen?” asked Bash about the bill. “Will that package be put up for a vote to put more sanctions on Russia?”

“I certainly hope that we can get there to do that,” replied Thune. He added that the White House “obviously had been working closely” with Graham on these sanctions and there were Democrats who supported it as well, so he thought there was a version of the bill “that could get 80 to 90 votes in the Senate,” they just needed to “figure out exactly” what that would look like.

“Lindsey had been working that issue for a long time,” said Thune. “It’s one of those things he was very passionate about. He wants to see a free and independent Ukraine, as all of us do. And he was a big believer that economic sanctions are a huge tool for the president and his administration, for us to achieve that outcome.”

This sanctions bill was probably “in his last days, the thing that [Graham] cared the most about, in terms of an accomplishment,” said Thune, and he was “hopeful we can get that done.”

“So I’m hopeful we can get that done. It’s something we’ve been talking about for a long time.”

“It would certainly be an incredible legacy for him if in fact, we could find a path forward,” he concluded. “It’ll take Democrats and Republicans here in the Senate to do that. But I’m hopeful we can make that happen.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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