Lindsey Graham Breaks Silence on ‘Operation Epic Fury’: Bold Verdict on Trump’s Iran Airstrikes

South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is again commanding the spotlight in Washington after a week of high-stakes negotiations on border security and a string of hard-hitting remarks about U.S. policy toward Iran. Graham’s latest salvo came during a weekend interview in which he argued that top aides are urging Donald Trump to shelve plans for a military strike against Tehran—an approach Graham believes would squander a “historic opportunity” to topple the clerical regime. Just hours earlier, the senator told Israeli media that “regime change is better than any half-measure nuclear deal,” underscoring a posture that critics say risks inflaming tensions across the Middle East. The Iran comments surfaced while Graham was already knee-deep in Capitol Hill brinkmanship over government funding. After briefly placing a procedural hold on a bipartisan spending package, he dropped his objection late Thursday, clearing the way for a vote that keeps most federal agencies open through September. The one exception is the Department of Homeland Security, whose budget House conservatives want to leverage for tougher immigration rules—an outcome Graham openly supports. “If we don’t secure the border now, when will we?” he said on the Senate floor, echoing a mantra he has repeated since unveiling a hard-line sanctuary-city proposal earlier this month. Behind the scenes, GOP strategists credit Graham’s media blitz for rallying conservative donors ahead of the 2026 midterms, when Republicans must defend a narrow Senate majority. His fiery rhetoric has also translated into viral social-media moments: a late-night post blasting Iranian leaders as “religious Nazis” racked up millions of impressions within hours of publication. Democrats accuse the senator of political theater. “Senator Graham is more interested in sound bites than sound policy,” said Senate Budget Chair Sheldon Whitehouse, warning that Graham’s threats to tie DHS funding to immigration enforcement could trigger another partial government shutdown. Human-rights advocates likewise caution that calls for regime change in Iran could derail delicate back-channel diplomacy aimed at freeing American hostages. Yet Graham shows no sign of retreat. In the coming days he plans to reintroduce the Secure and Protect Act, a bill that would require migrants seeking asylum to apply from outside the United States. He is also pressing Senate Foreign Relations Chair Ben Cardin for a hearing on what Graham calls “the collapsing legitimacy of the Islamic Republic.” Why the urgency? Aides say Graham views 2026 as a hinge point: spiraling fentanyl overdoses have made border security a top concern for suburban voters, while unprecedented protests inside Iran have created what he calls a “Berlin Wall moment” for U.S. foreign policy. “History is watching,” he wrote in a recent press release, urging allies to tighten sanctions until Tehran “either reforms or falls.” With primary season heating up, the senator’s high-octane messaging strategy appears calculated to keep him front-and-center in conservative media—and to remind Trump-aligned voters that few in the GOP are more willing to match the former president’s instinct for blunt force diplomacy. Whether that approach yields legislative wins or merely louder headlines will become clear as Congress races to finish the fiscal-year budget and the White House weighs its next move on Iran.