Lindsey Graham Says Biden Made Susan Collins, Other Republicans Seem Foolish: ‘You Look Like A F*cking Idiot Now’
Some confusion over the bipartisan infrastructure negotiations led an outburst from Sen. Lindsey Graham directed at his fellow Senate Republicans involved in the talks. Democrats have linked passage of a bipartisan bill with a separate budget resolution that would pass through the reconciliation process, which would require only Democratic votes to pass. Biden said on Thursday that he won’t sign a bipartisan bill unless Democrats also pass a reconciliation bill.
Graham appeared to be unaware this was the Democrats’ plan as they were negotiating with Senate Republicans, including Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman, Mitt Romney.
“I’m not doing that,” Graham told Politico before boarding a plane Thursday night. “That’s extortion! I’m not going to do that.”
“Most Republicans could not have known that,” he said about the Democrats’ two-track plan. “There’s no way. You look like a fucking idiot now.”
He added, “I don’t mind bipartisanship, but I’m not going to do a suicide mission.”
Graham was one of 11 Republicans to indicate support for a bipartisan infrastructure bill last week, though that appears very much in jeopardy.
Graham’s confusion is somewhat puzzling, considering the fact that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer strongly indicated this would be the strategy earlier this month.
“It may well be that part of the bill that will pass will be bipartisan and part of it will be through reconciliation,” Schumer said at a press conference at the time. “But we’re not going to sacrifice the bigness and boldness in this bill. We’ll just pursue two paths, and at some point they will join.”
On Friday, sources told Politico that Portman was “pissed and disappointed.”
Several Republicans seem poised to ask for assurances from Democratic Senators such as Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, that they won’t sign off on a reconciliation bill.
“If this is the only thing that comes to me, I’m not signing it,” Biden said on Friday about a bipartisan bill. He said it must be “in tandem” with a reconciliation package that has key Democratic spending priorities.
