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Inside the Senate’s chaotic all-nighter that left Trump’s SAVE America Act on the shelf

August 11, 2026 6:30am EDT / Fox News

Sen Mike Lee’s promised objection to recess never materialized, and Trump directed Republicans to pull the budget resolution

By Alex Miller, Fox News

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., calls to hold the Senate accountable. Scott criticizes the Senate for going on recess without passing the SAVE Act and urges the newly confirmed Attorney General, Todd Blanche, to prosecute Dr. Anthony Fauci. Scott also addresses Fauci’s newly released phone records.

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During the long night to send the Senate home, deals were brokered, major legislation was punted and promises were extended.

The SAVE America Act never made it off the shelf, despite promises up and down from its biggest proponents to thwart any attempt to leave Washington, D.C., without trying to pass it. And the vehicle to blast through Democratic objections and pass parts of the bill never left the garage, either.

But it all nearly fell apart before lawmakers ever got a chance to hit the Senate floor for an early morning round of votes. Here’s what happened in the dead of night, and how Republicans are readying for a busy stretch when the Senate returns in September.

President Donald Trump departs following a reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026.(Bloomberg via Getty Images)

NO OBJECTION

The sun was about to rise in Washington, D.C., as the Senate tidied up last-minute work, but no lawmaker ever made an objection to adjourning for the rest of August.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, empowered by President Donald Trump, vowed that he would object and force a floor vote to keep lawmakers in Washington to find a way to pass the SAVE America Act.

The president urged both the House and Senate to pass the Protect College Sports Act.(Tom Brenner/Getty Images)

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO WHAT THE SENATE DID AND DIDN’T DO OVERNIGHT

He even stood in the way, along with several other Republicans for differing reasons, of the deal concocted by Republican leaders to get major items, like averting a shutdown, agreed to and sent to Democrats for their approval in a bid to get a guaranteed floor vote.

But the promised objection never came. A roll call vote didn’t happen. And Lee and others settled for a voice vote, responding “no” to the Senate adjourning for recess. They weren’t successful.

SAVE AMERICA AND RECONCILIATION 3.0

Another issue that played out during the night was over the budget blueprint designed to sketch out how to pass pieces and parts of the SAVE America Act without fear of Democrats blocking the process.

It was destined for failure, and Trump pushed Republicans to pull the plug.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6403005702112

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who is now at the helm of the Senate Budget Committee, plans to go back to the drawing board with his budget resolution and beef it up to include more funding for the Pentagon.

“We’re, obviously, with the president at his direction. This is what he wants to do,” Johnson said.

TRUMP PUMPS BRAKES ON SENATE BUDGET PLAN, DELAYING GOP SAVE AMERICA PUSH

But the slowdown serves as another blow to the SAVE America Act and vastly lowers the possibility that Republicans can get another budget resolution and forthcoming reconciliation package, passed before the lame-duck period after the midterm elections.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged that “we’re going to need to do another reconciliation bill,” but wouldn’t say just how soon the Senate could make it happen.

“We’ll see,” Thune said. “I mean, I think that Ron’s gonna work on it over the break, and his team, and we’ll see what they come up with.”

THE NIL DEBACLE

Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, during a Senate vote at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 25, 2026.(Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A major reason that the night dragged on as long as it did was because of a massive college sports bill to redraw the boundaries of the big money tied to name, image and likeness (NIL).

The package, pushed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, faced pushback from several Republicans over bringing it to the Senate floor. It prompted Trump to call on the Senate GOP to move the bill in a Truth Social post, but it wasn’t enough to kill the resistance.

TRUMP URGES CONGRESS TO PASS PROTECT COLLEGE SPORTS ACT BEFORE RECESS: ‘WE HAVE TO GET THAT DONE’

A source familiar with negotiations told Fox News Digital that things had become bleak as the night went on.

“We are pretty much at a standstill and could be here through Monday or Tuesday,” they said.

Ultimately, the bill was stripped from the larger floor deal and delayed until September after Cruz and Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., huddled with Thune in his office.

“We will get the bill to President Trump’s desk and deliver results for hundreds of thousands of student-athletes and bring stability to college athletics,” Cruz said in a statement.

BLANCHE AND THE BATTLE AGAINST SLEEP

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for his nomination to be attorney general at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on July 15, 2026.(Anadolu via Getty Images)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation almost didn’t happen, not because of Republican defectors, but because of tired lawmakers.

When it finally came time to do back-to-back votes to officially lock him in as former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s replacement, it was just past 3 a.m. And senators were ready to go — Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., had his suitcase ready just outside of the Senate floor.

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But two key votes, Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., had missed the preceding votes. The late night had gotten to them, and Republicans needed them to confirm Blanche.

They were eventually roused and voted to confirm him, handing Trump one of the narrowest confirmation wins in history at 50-49.

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

Russia is firing North Korean missiles at Ukraine, Zelenskyy claims, as more overnight attacks kill 9

August 11, 2026 / 6:25 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of using North Korean ballistic missiles in its attacks, as another night of bombardment killed at least nine civilians and injured dozens of others.

Zelenskyy said Russian forces used ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea in their attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, where local officials said six people were killed and 19 wounded.

Three more people, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed by Russian drones and artillery in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, local authorities said.

Russia has received additional ballistic missiles from Pyongyang and is preparing to deploy more North Korean troops, Zelenskyy said late Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2024 that pledged mutual aid if either country faced aggression. Since then, various reports of Ukrainian troops skirmishing with North Korean counterparts have emerged.

The Ukrainian president warned that North Korea’s missile capabilities are being improved by the collaboration with Russia. “The more North Korean strikes there are here in Ukraine, in Europe, the more their missiles and soldiers are used, the more they correct their shortcomings and blind spots, the greater the danger will later be for Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and other countries in the region,” Zelenskyy said on social media.

In December 2024, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff estimated that there had already been more than 1,000 North Korean troops in the war. In January 2025, Ukraine announced it had, for the first time, captured two wounded North Korean soldiers.

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Ukraine says Russia is scaling up its production of ballistic missiles, aiming to exploit Kyiv’s critical shortage of Patriot air defense interceptors that can stop them. Kyiv also claims Moscow is preparing an increase in recruitment for a new push on the front line that stretches 775 miles along eastern and southern Ukraine.

“Every step Russia takes — increasing ballistic missile production, bringing in North Korean equipment, preparing for mobilization — all of this shows that Moscow is preparing not for peace, but for escalation,” Zelenskyy said on social media.

拿高市早苗送密瓜开玩笑惹议 阿尔巴尼斯否认有意侮辱

2026年8月11日 16:53 / 联合早报

澳洲总理阿尔巴尼斯星期二（8月11日）在国会被问及是否会为自己的“不尊重行为”道歉时说：“我不接受这个问题中的说法……高市首相是澳洲的朋友，也是我的朋友。” （法新社）

日本首相高市早苗早前送给澳大利亚总理阿尔巴尼斯哈密瓜，阿尔巴尼斯接受媒体访问时拿此事开玩笑，引发争议。

法新社报道，阿尔巴尼斯此前已因上个月接受喜剧播客《Bush Deep》访问时发表的言论而遭到抨击并道歉。主持人当时要求阿尔巴尼斯参与“发生关系、结婚或约会”游戏，让他在凯莉·米洛（Kylie Minogue）、妮可·基德曼等女星中进行选择，起初他曾提及自己已结婚，但在追问下仍选择与凯莉·米洛发生关系，被批评回答轻率。

不过，同一场访问中，他拿高市早苗5月访问澳大利亚时送给他的礼物开玩笑，这起事件在本周引发政界反弹。

阿尔巴尼斯在官邸接受主持人奥斯本（Nikki Osborne）访问时，称高市送给他的日本高级哈密瓜“很奇怪”。

主持人问高市是否把水果偷偷带过澳大利亚海关。阿尔巴尼斯随后举起双手在胸前比画，并说：“带了两个哈密瓜。”

这番话被广泛解读为影射高市的身体特征，但总理发言人向《澳大利亚人报》说：“这种说法是错误的。”

前日本驻澳大利亚大使山上信吾警告称，这些“侮辱”言论已损害澳大利亚总理在日本的形象。

日本高级哈密瓜被视为奢侈品，售价可超过270澳元（约243.93新元）。

澳大利亚反对党领袖也要求阿尔巴尼斯就这番“侮辱”的玩笑道歉。

不过，阿尔巴尼斯星期二（8月11日）在国会被问及是否会为自己的“不尊重行为”道歉时，阿尔巴尼斯说：“我不接受这个问题中的说法。”

他说：“高市首相是澳大利亚的朋友，也是我的朋友。”

澳大利亚外交部长黄英贤也否认阿尔巴尼斯的言论意在侮辱高市。“总理已明确说，他无意让反对派人士那样解读他的言论。”

指前总统阿萨德犯战争罪 叙利亚法院判死刑

2026年8月11日 17:02 / 联合早报

阿萨德于2024年12月在反政府武装攻入大马士革、政权垮台后，携家人逃往莫斯科。 （法新社档案照片）

叙利亚法院缺席判处前总统阿萨德死刑，罪名包括在叙利亚内战期间犯下“战争罪”和“反人类罪”。

法新社报报，一名法官星期二（8月11日）以“预谋和蓄意谋杀多人及儿童、酷刑、任意逮捕和反人类罪”的罪名判处阿萨德死刑。

这次判决是过渡政府成立以来，作出的首起这类裁决。过渡政府今年开始对前政府成员进行审判，既有当庭审判，也有缺席审判。

阿萨德于2024年12月在反政府武装攻入大马士革、政权垮台后，携家人逃往莫斯科。

阿萨德生于1965年，并于2000年父亲哈菲兹去世后继任总统。他维持家族的统治，巩固阿拉维派在逊尼派占多数的叙利亚的统治地位，并维持叙利亚作为伊朗盟友、敌视以色列和美国的地位。

叙利亚与俄罗斯就两座俄军事基地未来达成共识
黎真主党领导人：不排斥与叙利亚领导人公开会面

执政初期的阿萨德深受伊拉克战争和黎巴嫩危机影响，而在他长达24年的统治期间则以持续多年的内战为主要特征。这场内战始于2011年阿拉伯之春期间，当时叙利亚民众走上街头要求民主改革，却遭到政府镇压。

除了阿萨德，叙利亚法院也判处一名阿萨德时期官员阿提夫·纳吉布（Atif Najib）死刑，罪名是他在担任德拉省政治安全局局长期间犯下“反人类罪”。德拉省是2011年叙利亚起义的发源地。

纳吉布也是阿萨德的堂兄，于去年1月被捕。法院认定他犯有包括谋杀、“故意杀害15岁以下儿童”和“酷刑致死”在内的多项罪行。

Colombia earthquake rescuers race to find survivors in rubble as death toll increases to at least 132

August 11, 2026 7:11 AM EDT / CBS/AFP

Rescue workers and volunteers rushed to clear rubble as they searched for survivors in Colombia early Tuesday after the country was struck by its strongest earthquake on record.

As of Monday afternoon, at least 132 people had died and more than 570 others had been injured, according to the Colombian Association of Capital Cities, a group that coordinates major cities across the country. By Monday night, more than 2,700 people had been reported missing. Many families posted information about loved ones online, hoping for information about their fate.

The 7.4-magnitude quake struck cities across Colombia’s western region shortly after 7:30 a.m. local time, sending panicked residents onto the streets.

People look for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake in Cali, Colombia, on August 10, 2026. Joaquín SARMIENTO /AFP via Getty Images

The city of Pereira, one of the hardest hit, was plunged into darkness Monday evening as volunteers combed through the remains of collapsed buildings searching for survivors.

“We’re without power. This seems honestly like a zombie city,” resident Juan David Gaitan told French news agency AFP.

At the airport in Pereira, https://x.com/EbuenoLindo/status/2086814064311742801?s=20 showed pieces of ceiling falling down on travelers taking shelter and screaming, and people running through rubble in a panic.

The country’s president, Abelardo de la Espriella, who had been on the job for only three days, declared a state of emergency and vowed a concerted rescue effort.

Rescuers are joined by local residents to clear the rubble while searching for survivors at a collapsed building after an earthquake in Pereira, Colombia, on August 10, 2026. Luis ACOSTA /AFP via Getty Images

Around 1,600 buildings across the country were reported damaged or collapsed, with rescue workers and volunteers seen clearing rubble by hand in some places.

Dana Carolina Zamora posted an image of her missing 60-year-old uncle, Miguel Ángel Zamora, cradling his dog. The farmer was living in a rural area of El Cairo, not far from the quake’s epicenter in San Jose Del Palmar.

“We are afraid. We hope that is not the case, that he is all right and that it is only a communication failure. But we haven’t heard anything from him,” Zamora said.

De la Espriella announced Monday night that he had mobilized “the entire military and police apparatus” to respond to the temblor.

A man carries a dog as he walks past the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake in Pereira, Colombia on August 10, 2026. Jaime SALDARRIAGA /AFP via Getty Images

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a social media post on Monday that the Trump administration was closely monitoring the earthquake response and “stands ready to support the people of Colombia.”

South Florida organizations are among U.S.-based humanitarian groups mobilizing to send aid to Colombia.

“There’s a lot of damage, and we are waiting for information as to what the needs are. The first is rescue and recovery,” Fabio Andrade, a Weston city commissioner and a Colombian American, told CBS News Miami.

WHO defends immunisation schedules after Trump orders fewer childhood shots

August 11, 2026 10:06 AM UTC / Reuters

blob:https://www.reuters.com/78c77313-7942-42cc-9fb7-559c8c637f49

Effective immediately, My administration is recognizing gold standard childhood vaccine

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/who-defends-immunisation-schedules-after-trump-orders-fewer-childhood-shots-2026-08-11/

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/who-defends-immunisation-schedules-after-trump-orders-fewer-childhood-shots-2026-08-11/

• Summary
• Trump’s order calls for childhood schedule of 11 vaccinations
• WHO says vaccine timing reflects extensive review of disease risk and immune system development
• Doctors warn fewer recommendations could raise disease risk and confuse parents

GENEVA, Aug 11 (Reuters) – The World Health Organization on Tuesday defended the science-based process used to determine childhood ‌immunisation schedules after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at reducing the number of recommended childhood vaccinations in the United States.

On Monday, Trump signed an executive order calling for a reduced childhood vaccination schedule of 11 immunisations. Trump said ​the move would provide U.S. children with “gold-standard” protection and align the United States more closely with other developed ​countries that recommend fewer shots.

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Vaccine experts say that other developed countries that may recommend ⁠fewer shots face different disease risks and have different healthcare systems.

The order advances a long-standing objective of ​U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has questioned vaccine safety and promoted claims linking vaccines to autism even ​though scientific studies and public health authorities have found no evidence of a link.

WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević told a press briefing in Geneva that vaccination recommendations were based on more than 60 years of research by WHO, national authorities and independent expert ​groups.

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The timing of individual vaccines was determined through extensive scientific review of when people were most vulnerable ​to particular diseases and the development of the immune system, Jašarević told reporters in Geneva.

Jašarević said countries typically relied on national ‌immunisation ⁠technical advisory groups made up of multidisciplinary experts who provided independent, evidence-based recommendations to governments and vaccination programme managers. Those groups, he said, draw on guidance from WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) when establishing national schedules.

“What comes out from WHO is science-based,” Jašarević said.

“We hope that all countries will use this best ​scientific evidence that we have.”

SEPARATE ​SHOTS FOR MEASLES, MUMPS ⁠AND RUBELLA

Trump’s executive order has drawn criticism from medical associations, public health experts and vaccine manufacturers, who say there is no new scientific evidence to justify the ​changes and that the existing U.S. schedule reflects decades of evidence and the ​specific health needs ⁠of Americans, rejecting the comparison to other countries.

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Physicians have warned that reducing the number of recommended vaccinations could leave more children vulnerable to preventable diseases and create confusion among parents about when children should be immunised.

The Trump order also ⁠recommends separating ​the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three individual injections. ​Vaccine maker Merck has said there is no published scientific evidence showing a benefit from splitting the shot and warned that requiring ​separate visits could increase the risk of delayed or missed vaccinations.

Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Editing by Kate Mayberry

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

网络消息引发非法移民潮 Meta和Tiktok同意核查

2026年8月11日 17:47 / 联合早报

7月30日以来，超过7万人从摩洛哥冒险横渡海域涌入西班牙飞地休达，造成近百人死亡。 （路透社）

欧盟科技事务负责人维尔库宁说，社交网络平台Meta和TikTok已同意对有关西班牙边境入境情况的信息进行事实核查。

路透社报道，维尔库宁星期一（8月10日）晚上在社媒发文称，此举旨在防止犯罪团伙利用虚假信息诱骗潜在移民试图越境，这类事件已造成多人死亡。

根据贴文，Meta和TikTok已与欧盟达成协议，将建立“与事实核查机构合作的临时升级机制”，作为危机应对方案的一部分。

贴文指出，欧盟委员会和欧洲刑警组织每天都在与这两家公司讨论相关情况。

维尔库宁也与西班牙数字经济部长洛佩斯就如何防止非法越境和人员伤亡进行沟通。

7月30日以来，超过7万人从摩洛哥冒险横渡海域涌入西班牙飞地休达，造成近百人死亡。

这场大规模越境潮被指源于社媒广泛传播的错误信息，以及对法院判决的错误解读所引发。

一些准备移民的人受到少数在网上疯传的视频鼓动，这些视频原意是凸显移民压力所带来的负担。

休达和梅利利亚是欧盟在非洲唯一拥有陆地边界的两个城市，两地不时出现移民试图越境进入欧洲的高峰。

网络消息引发非法移民潮 Meta和Tiktok同意核查

2026年8月11日 17:47 / 新明日报

7月30日以来，超过7万人从摩洛哥冒险横渡海域涌入西班牙飞地休达，造成近百人死亡。 （路透社）

欧盟科技事务负责人维尔库宁说，社交网络平台Meta和TikTok已同意对有关西班牙边境入境情况的信息进行事实核查。

路透社报道，维尔库宁星期一（8月10日）晚上在社媒发文称，此举旨在防止犯罪团伙利用虚假信息诱骗潜在移民试图越境，这类事件已造成多人死亡。

根据贴文，Meta和TikTok已与欧盟达成协议，将建立“与事实核查机构合作的临时升级机制”，作为危机应对方案的一部分。

贴文指出，欧盟委员会和欧洲刑警组织每天都在与这两家公司讨论相关情况。

维尔库宁也与西班牙数字经济部长洛佩斯就如何防止非法越境和人员伤亡进行沟通。

7月30日以来，超过7万人从摩洛哥冒险横渡海域涌入西班牙飞地休达，造成近百人死亡。

这场大规模越境潮被指源于社媒广泛传播的错误信息，以及对法院判决的错误解读所引发。

一些准备移民的人受到少数在网上疯传的视频鼓动，这些视频原意是凸显移民压力所带来的负担。

休达和梅利利亚是欧盟在非洲唯一拥有陆地边界的两个城市，两地不时出现移民试图越境进入欧洲的高峰。

Trump loves data centers. Americans hate them

2026-08-11T10:00:29.702Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/11/politics/trump-data-centers

If there’s a true populist issue built for this moment in time, it might be opposition to AI data centers. Lawmakers and candidates from both parties across states are increasingly positioning themselves as critics of data center proliferation.

And recent primary results suggest it’s a pretty potent issue.

There is, however, one big exception to the growing political stampede away from data centers: President Donald Trump and his administration officials, who are bear-hugging them.

It’s merely the latest political head-scratcher from the president, given the growing volume of polls showing just how much Americans hate data centers and overwhelmingly don’t seem to want them in their communities.

Trump’s defenses of data centers have grown substantially in recent weeks. He’s not only pitched them as vital to competing with China on artificial intelligence, but as win-wins for the US communities that welcome them.

Back in March, the administration debuted an initiative called the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which aimed to get developers to voluntarily promise that data center construction wouldn’t raise people’s energy bills.

But even at the time, Trump downplayed the need for his executive action. He suggested data centers weren’t really raising energy bills in the first place.

“They need some PR help, because people think that if a data center goes in there, electricity prices are going to go up,” Trump said.

Last month, he sharply criticized Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for signing an executive order halting the construction of new data centers. Trump on social media called them “big, strong, bold, and Money Machines” and “Cash Cows, with Lower Taxes and Record Setting Jobs.”

Last week, he told Fox News that “any community that turns down AI is making a big mistake,” claiming data centers would reduce taxes and make property values go up.

He called it “a tremendous thing” and even seemed to marvel at how anybody could oppose them.

“It’s almost like there’s a campaign against, you know, data centers,” the president said.

And then in an interview with Punchbowl News later in the week, he took aim at GOP-controlled Texas, which moved to more strongly regulate data center construction.

Trump said data centers could be “bigger than oil.”

“I don’t think they’re unsightly,” he added. “I mean, I’m looking at some of these data centers — the most incredible buildings I’ve ever seen. They go for two-and-a-half, three miles.”

Virtually everything Trump is saying is at odds with where the American people are.

Americans opposed the construction of new data centers 45%-16% in a Reuters-Ipsos poll in June.

And the margins grew significantly when it came to building them in their communities. The margin against grew to 59%-10% when the data centers were within 10 miles of the person’s home. Gallup in March showed 7 in 10 Americans opposed building data centers “in your area.”

The passion is clearly on the side of the critics.

Only between 3% and 7% strongly supported the construction of data centers in their areas in the above polls, while between 44% to 48% strongly opposed them.

While 61% of Americans said data centers were necessary in the Reuters poll, 77% wanted them to be built in remote areas away from communities.

Despite Trump’s claims that data centers are economic boons and potentially “bigger than oil,” just 50% of Americans think they create jobs and are good for the economy. And only 1 in 6 feel that way strongly, saying that describes data centers “very” or “extremely” well.

Despite Trump’s claim that data centers aren’t or wouldn’t make electricity more expensive, 77% said they were doing just that in Reuters/Ipsos polling earlier in June, while two-thirds said the same in a March Pew Research Center poll.

And finally, all told, Americans said by a whopping 71%-29% margin that the costs of data centers outweighed the benefits, according a Marquette Law School poll in May.

Most notably: All of these polls suggest it’s a remarkably bipartisan aversion. Republicans are somewhat more likely to see the benefits of data centers and welcome them in their communities, but they’re strongly against them, too.

The bipartisan campaigns against and efforts to rein in data centers

That bipartisanship has made itself clear in how the issue has been addressed across the country — and not just in New York and Texas. Bills banning data center construction have been proposed in 15 states, spanning from deep red to deep blue.

The issue also featured prominently in both parties’ gubernatorial primaries in Kansas last week, with critics winning both primaries. (The Democrat who won, state Sen. Cindy Holscher, disowned a previous vote in favor of data center construction and strongly backed a moratorium.) Both parties’ gubernatorial nominees in Ohio also back a moratorium.

Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and House candidate William Lawrence played up the issue on their way to primary victories in Michigan last week. And Democratic Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong looks to do the same Tuesday after making the issue her calling card.

They’ve all seemed to sense the rare issue that truly galvanizes — both because it directly impacts Americans in their communities and, they worry, is exacerbating their already increasing costs.

But Trump seems to be making a different calculation.

South Carolina Republicans vote if Lindsey Graham’s sister should inherit Senate bid

2026-08-11T10:12:46.329Z / Reuters

WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) – South Carolina voters head to ​the polls on Tuesday to decide if Darline Graham should replace her late brother, Senator ‌Lindsey Graham, as the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in November’s election after he died last month.

After the senator’s unexpected death from a heart ailment, Governor Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to serve the rest of his term through early January. President Donald Trump endorsed ​Darline Graham, who has never held public office, for a full six-year term, calling it a “fabulous tribute” ​to her brother.

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But critics said her bid, based on family name recognition and presidential backing ⁠without a political record of her own, had the air of an attempted coronation.

Ten candidates are running in Tuesday’s ​election. The winner will face Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who had more than $3 million in her campaign war chest at ​the start of July.

If no primary candidate wins a majority on Tuesday, the top two finishers head to an August 25 runoff.

Graham’s opponents include U.S. Representatives Ralph Norman and Russell Fry, former Governor Mark Sanford and self-funded Greenville businessman Mark Lynch.

Lindsey Graham won ​his June 9 primary seeking his fifth Senate term by almost 28 percentage points. Lynch, who placed second ​with nearly 29% of the vote, is the only candidate in the special primary from the original primary field.

Lynch received more ‌than 130,000 ⁠votes in that primary, suggesting some Republican primary voters had an appetite for change before Lindsey Graham’s death.

“People are furious” about “the coronation of Darline Graham,” Lynch said in an interview. “It’s OK that they picked her to be the interim senator until January but not to run for office.”

Graham is expected to make the runoff, but skeptics ​have questioned her credentials and ​the president’s decision to ⁠endorse her over more qualified candidates who have been vetted in previous campaigns. Her rivals expect voters who do not choose her on Tuesday to back her opponent ​in a runoff.

Trump won South Carolina in 2024 by nearly 18 percentage points.

In ​interviews, Republicans questioned ⁠the potency of Trump’s endorsement in South Carolina, where he backed a pair of runoff candidates for governor after polls showed his first pick, Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, was poised to lose against Attorney General Alan Wilson.

U.S. Representative Nancy ⁠Mace, who ​ran unsuccessfully for governor, predicted Graham would lose her Senate bid ​just as Trump’s original choice for governor lost.

The president’s endorsement “gets you into a runoff,” she told Reuters. “But … it’s not enough to win a ​race anymore.”

The eventual Republican nominee is favored to win in November.

Reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill; Editing by Cynthia Osterman

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