Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) certainly did have his caffeine this morning. Senator Graham was unequivocal in his stance on matters of policy foreign and domestic.
First, with regard to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, Mr. Graham said he was confident that the probe will not be shut down and that most everyone on the Hill believes that Mr. Mueller and his team should be allowed to do his job. Democrats in the Senate, lead by Chuck Schumer, are insisting that legislation protecting the probe should be enacted. In addition, outgoing Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) will refuse to vote on anymore of President Trump's judicial nominations unless such legislation is approved. The constitutionality of such legislation is in question.
The National Review's Rich Lowry made two good points on this that circle round to Senator Graham's confidence. One, he agrees with that said legislation would be unconstitutional due to the fact that Congress can not control Executive Branch hires, of which Mr. Mueller is one. That may disheartening to Democrats, however, he also made the point that the proverbial ship has sailed on firing the Special Counsel because if that happens, the first thing that the new chairman of the judiciary committee come January, presumably Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), will do is call Mr. Mueller in front of Congress and tell everything he knows - in front of the American people, the more significant point in this discussion hence Mr. Graham's confidence. Additionally, Democrats forcing a government shutdown because of the exclusion of such legislation would spend a damaging amount of political capital and ultimately would not go over well.
However, there's one more aspect to this that needs to be touched on, which is Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell's refusal to bring said legislation to the Senate floor for a vote. Mr. McConell also doesn't think the legislation is constitutional but say if it were. He still wouldn't bring it to the floor of the Senate and the reason is that if it were to pass, it would send a message that the Republican-control body officially sanctions the probe and thus its findings. When those findings become public and if there is clear wrong-doing on the part of the president the Democratically-controlled House would vote to impeach. The Senate having given sanction to the Mueller probe, would then have to act accordingly. One thing is for sure and that's that Senate McConnell always puts party over country so he's not inclined to give Democrats any perceived leverage.
The president is lashing out at the Mueller investigation because, frankly, he's freaking out because the special counsel's questions were literally put right in front of him and he realized that he's lost his protectors in the House.
With regard the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and CIA's determination that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman sanctioned the murder, Senator Graham clearly stated his thoughts on the matter, essentially agreeing with the CIA's assessment and gave a flat 'no' when it came to inviting the Kingdom's US ambassador back who also happens to be related to the crown prince. He also explained that the Senate was planning to invoke the Magnitsky Act on Saudi officials. In terms of the Senate that U.S.-Saudi relationship is deeply fractured with Senator Graham calling the crown prince 'irrational' and 'unhinged.'
The problem of taking appropriate steps to sanction Saudi Arabia isn't with Congress, but with this transactional administration. In addition to Jared Kushner's close relationship with the crown prince, there's the perception that the president is making decisions on this, or in this case not making decisions, based on his personal financial relationship with the Saudis and their buying of Trump real estate. In this instance it seems quite clear that the president has violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution, but we can not know for sure until the president's tax returns are subpoenaed by Congress. Hallie Jackson explained that the administration keeps putting this on the back burner, pushing farther and farther back in the hopes that it will go away, but that's the rub, things like this do not simply go away.
"The problem is with the Republicans, not the Democrats," stated Senator Graham on the topic of prison reform, something that is much needed and that has wide bipartisan support in Congress. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said that it was his top priority in the lame duck session. It even has the support of the president. The reason that Mr. Graham made that statement is because some Republican senators such as Tom Cotton (R-AR) who still believe in minimum sentencing and 'three strikes and you're out' for non-violent offenses. Mr. Graham stated that the bill should be brought to the floor where Senator Cotton would be voted down. The rub - the question remains as to whether Mitch McConnell will bring it to the floor for a vote.
Now that the midterms are over and there's divided government, or for the sake of this point, more balanced government, the American people want to see the parties working in a more bipartisan fashion. Congress's bipartisan outrage with regard to Saudi Arabia and its overwhelming agreement on criminal justice reform are a good start. The problem is that aforementioned individuals are putting the personal and party over country.
Panel: Hallie Jackson, NBC; Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Rich Lowry, The National Review; John Harwood, CNBC
One more thing...
In terms of Nancy Pelosi being the next Speaker of the House, this column is conflicted. Yes, the Democrats need new leadership to come forward but they also need Nancy Pelosi. What the Democrats should do is have some one new in a leadership role and have Ms. Pelosi groom that person. Given the era of Donald Trump, the Democrats right now need some one who is savvy, who can mobilize others, who can go toe to toe with the Republicans and who can fund raise. Given that, the Democrats should get all they can out of Nancy Pelosi because it's true - Republicans demonize her because there is no Democrat who is a more effective politician.
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