Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C) tried to explain why he blocked a bipartisan proposal that would address the border crisis in the Senate this week, but ended up getting caught in a lie.
During a heated exchange on the Senate floor with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), one of the chief negotiators of the proposal, Graham said the bill “did a pretty good job in many ways” but added, “I didn’t think it was enough.”
Sinema then asked why he blocked the bill from even coming to the floor, where senators could offer amendments to the proposal.
Graham claims he didn’t think Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) would allow him to offer amendments.
“Here is what I’m saying. This has been a half-ass effort to deal with border security,” he added.
Sinema noted that “Sen. Graham’s team and Sen. Graham himself were integral parts” of the negotiation.
“So could you help me understand why you voted against the motion to proceed?” Sinema asked again. “Before we were able to offer any amendments, including your amendments.”
“I think the fix is in,” Graham said. “I think people on our side and your side wanted to do the border thing as quick as they could, so we could get to Ukraine, and I don’t trust the system here to be able to allow us to have the debate.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the lead Senate Democratic negotiator, sided with Sinema, pointing out that Graham had plenty of time to offer his input on the bill considering that he was a part of the negotiations.
“His top staff were in the room when we negotiated the bill,” Murphy said. “We negotiated key provisions directly with him.”
