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The State House Gavel shares updates about the South Carolina General Assembly, including legislative actions, debates and discussions. Featuring news and interviews, so you have access to the latest developments in policy and decisions that shape South Carolina’s future.

The State House Gavel: Graham signals openness to VC Summer revival

FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks with reporters about aid to Ukraine, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 10, 2022, in Washington. Attorneys representing Graham said Wednesday, July 6, that he intends to challenge a subpoena compelling him to testify before a special grand jury in Georgia investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies' actions after the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Alex Brandon/AP
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AP
FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill, March 10, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Statehouse reporters Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney and Maayan Schechter are back at the Capitol reporting what you need to know when lawmakers are in Columbia. They'll post news, important schedules, photos/videos and behind-the-scenes interviews with policymakers.

Good morning. It's a very cold Tuesday.

It's the second week of the 2025 legislative session.

As a reminder, the SC House and Senate will be in what's called a perfunctory session and will not be meeting for floor debate or votes. Both chambers are prioritizing committee work so that they can advance bills to the floor.

Several lawmakers are also coming back from inauguration activities in Washington. Rep. Travis Moore, R-Spartanburg, had official duties at the inauguration.

This is The State House Gavel, a new daily reporter notebook by reporters Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney and Maayan Schechter that will preview and capture what goes on at the South Carolina Statehouse this year while lawmakers are in session.

Notebook highlights:

  • US Sen. Lindsey Graham sounds off on Biden last-minute pardons, lawmakers desire to reopen VC Summer for more energy business.
  • Social issues pop up as key focus for Republican groups, lawmakers and potential 2026 gubernatorial contenders.
The 126th General Assembly of South Carolina gavels into session on Jan. 14, 2025.
Gavin Jackson
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SCETV
The 126th General Assembly of South Carolina gavels into session on Jan. 14, 2025.

Lindsey Graham takes a call with SC media

A key Trump ally, US Sen. Lindsey Graham held a call with South Carolina reporters Monday post inauguration to sound off on President Donald Trump and South Carolina politics.

Graham gaggle moments:

  • On using the Alien Enemies Act to fight drug cartels: "A national security threat, by designating the cartels as a foreign terrorist organization, it gives us more tools to go after them. The 1798 law ... allows us to remove groups that are a threat to our country, and people don't realize that the gangs, throughout Latin America, Mexico and that part of the world have set up shop in our major cities in Atlanta and Chicago."
  • On final Biden pardons: “I was very disappointed because I think it's sort of a political grandstand theater trying to continue the narrative that this work that somehow President Trump is going to turn the country upside down and go after people he doesn't like, just to continue that storyline. As a parting shot to President Trump, I thought it was more political theater and quite frankly, a cheap way to leave office.”
  • On resurrecting VC Summer reactor work: “... I talked to the governor about this. We cannot give up on nuclear power. It was a disaster trying to build these two new nuclear power plants. So I'm going to talk to President Trump about small modular reactors as a way to get more nuclear power into the system. But, yes, I would be open to trying to revitalize that. Trust me, South Carolina needs as much power as we can get.”
  • On Trump's wish to rename Gulf of Mexico: “You never know with him. I don't know. Do you have to reprogram GPS or change your map? I don't know. He says he wants the Panama Canal back. You know, let's see how that plays out. ... I thought it was a mistake to give it away, but, again, there was an element to this speech that I think Americans are yearning for, that we're the winners again. You know, we've got to be strong. We're going to be tough. We're not going to, you know, meddle in other people's business, but we're not going to be trifled with.”
  • Over/under on whether he beats his 26 Sunday show appearances in 2025: "I think with Trump you probably might want to do the over. My pastor had noticed that too. In 2025, I think I'll be out there a lot selling what he's trying to do. And I think Sunday shows kind of shapes what happens the next week.”

    Graham appeared Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation" and said his Senate Budget Committee will use reconciliation to get Trump priorities through Congress. The State House Gavel notes the constant TV appearances doesn’t hurt when it comes to fundraising (see $16 million 2026 war chest) for reelection either.

You can listen to Graham's entire conversation with reporters:

Sen. Lindsey Graham Media Call, Jan. 20, 2025
Sen. Graham speaks with South Carolina reporters hours after President Donald Trump's inauguration

FILE - Former President Donald Trump, left, speaks at a campaign event as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., looks on Jan. 28, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. The long and occasionally quixotic relationship between Trump and Graham has turned negative once more after the South Carolina senator criticized Trump's refusal to support a federal abortion ban. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)
Meg Kinnard/AP
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AP
FILE - Former President Donald Trump, left, speaks at a campaign event as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., looks on Jan. 28, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)

Social issues vs. leadership priorities

Competing press conferences in the Legislature's first week of session illustrated the jockeying bound to happen through May among GOP leaders to get their favorite bills the momentum to move in the next few months.

You had the conservative House Family Caucus outlining their socially conservative and Christian-focused legislation. Then the conservative Palmetto Family coalition, asking Statehouse leaders to codify budget proviso (one-year law attached to the House budget) 1.120. The proviso mandates that people can only use K-12 bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to the gender assigned to them at birth.

“I never dreamed in a million years that I would have to take the bathroom to the courtroom,” Attorney General Alan Wilson, one of the top names on the 2026 gubernatorial watchlist, said last week at the Statehouse as another possible hopeful, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, watched from nearby.

“We shouldn't have to be having this conversation, but because there are radical thinking people in this world, people who don't put the same level, who care concern and the privacy and safety of our children, and we have to codify this," he added.

In the background: Last month, Wilson was in front of the US Supreme Court supporting fellow Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti in the state’s fight over its gender-affirming medical care ban for transgender youth, similar to a law on the books in South Carolina. Wilson is hardly the only Republican politician — or possible gubernatorial candidate — to talk about issues surrounding the trans community. US Rep. Nancy Mace — yes, she's another possible statewide candidate — has made the anti-trans legislation her main talking point over the last several months, which includes her rhetoric about the first trans member of Congress, Sarah McBride.

What happens next: State Sen. Wes Climer, R-York, filed his so-called “Student Physical Privacy Act”S. 199 — on the first day of session. The bill aims to codify that language into law. We’ve heard leaders say over and over again that social issues are taking a back seat to weightier issues, like energy, education and taxes. But in a two-year session ahead of a wide open GOP primary for governor, will they be able to avoid it?

S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson attends a press conference for the Student Privacy Act in the Statehouse lobby on Jan. 15, 2025.
GAVIN JACKSON
S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson attends a press conference for the Student Privacy Act in the Statehouse lobby on Jan. 15, 2025.

Daily planner (1/21)

SC House

SC Senate

SC Lede: Billion Dollar Boondoggles Are BACK!

Statehouse clips from around the state

Russ McKinney, Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson
SCETV
Russ McKinney, Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson

Maayan Schechter (My-yahn Schek-ter) is a news reporter with South Carolina Public Radio and ETV. She worked at South Carolina newspapers for a decade, previously working as a reporter and then editor of The State’s S.C. State House and politics team, and as a reporter at the Aiken Standard and the Greenville News. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated from the University of North Carolina-Asheville in 2013.
Gavin Jackson graduated with a visual journalism degree from Kent State University in 2008 and has been in the news industry ever since. He has worked at newspapers in Ohio, Louisiana and most recently in South Carolina at the Florence Morning News and Charleston Post and Courier.
Russ McKinney has 30 years of experience in radio news and public affairs. He is a former broadcast news reporter in Spartanburg, Columbia and Atlanta. He served as Press Secretary to former S.C. Governor Dick Riley for two terms, and for 20 years was the chief public affairs officer for the University of South Carolina.