Lawmakers face obstacles, including demands from Trump, Mitch McConnell’s absence and Graham’s sudden death Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. Republican lawmakers return to the Capitol this week after the unexpected death in office of Lindsey Graham, as the party seeks to appoint a new senator to see out his term. The Senate judiciary committee has scheduled two days of confirmation hearings for Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general Trump has nominated to the post, though it was unclear if the death of Graham, who served on the committee, will affect the schedule. The intelligence committee has separately announced that the confirmation of Clayton is back on. Republicans in both chambers remain confounded by Trump’s renewed fixation on the Save America Act, which would ba