By Morgan Rimmer, CNN

(CNN) — Darline Graham, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s younger sister, was sworn into the Senate on Tuesday to serve out the remainder of her brother’s term after his sudden death over the weekend.

She was appointed to the seat by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and will remain in the Senate until January 2027. Graham is the first woman to represent South Carolina in the Senate. As she serves out the remainder of her brother’s term, a special primary election will take place August 11 to replace the late Republican lawmaker in November’s general election to determine who will next hold the seat for the upcoming six-year term.

Graham, 62, has not previously held elected office but has a long history of public service in the state of South Carolina. She has served as a commissioner for the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and has long worked with people with disabilities.

After their parents died within 15 months of each other, she became orphaned at age 13 in 1976. Lindsey Graham — the first in his family to attend college, and a member of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps — became his sister’s legal guardian.

The siblings were close their entire lives, Darline Graham told CNN’s Dana Bash in a 2015 interview after her brother launched his bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. “Even when my parents were alive, they worked really long, hard hours running a small business. So even then, he was a caregiver to me,” she said.

Sen. Tim Scott joined Graham at her swearing in on the Senate floor, conducted by the Senate’s President pro tempore Chuck Grassley.

Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican from South Carolina and ally of President Donald Trump, died following an aortic dissection, according to a preliminary finding from the Washington, DC, medical examiner. He was 71.

Throughout US history, governors have at times chosen family members to take over Senate seats for their loved ones, frequently with a spouse picked to step in. Former Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s wife is one example; Muriel Humphrey filled her husband’s Senate seat after he passed away, as did Hattie Caraway after her husband died in office in 1931. Caraway went on to become the first woman elected to the Senate in her own right in 1932.

Lincoln Chafee was appointed to fill his father’s Rhode Island Senate seat. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was appointed by her own father to take over his Senate seat after he became Alaska’s governor in 2002 — a controversial decision at the time.

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CNN’s Eric Bradner contributed to this report

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By Betsy Klein, Holmes Lybrand, Manu Raju, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump downplayed the idea Tuesday that Sen. Lindsey Graham’s death was a result of any nefarious activity, saying the FBI is “wasting their time” if they’re pursuing conspiracy theories about the matter.

According to four law enforcement sources who spoke with CNN, investigators have no indication that Graham died from unnatural or nefarious causes. One of the sources said local police are conducting a normal review after someone dies, and the FBI has just offered their resources if necessary.

“I know there’s all sorts of conspiracy theories going along, and I don’t think the FBI — I think the FBI is wasting their time if they’re doing that,” Trump said when asked why the FBI was looking into the death or if he had gotten any updates.

The medical examiner has said preliminarily that Graham suffered an aortic dissection – a tear in his artery that is life threatening in most cases. Commentators online have suggested more sinister theories. Far-right activist Laura Loomer, for example, pointed to Graham having just returned from Ukraine, where he pushed for sanctions against Russia, before his death Saturday. GOP Sen. John Cornyn called for the release of a toxicology report to “rule out any foul play.”

Some in the law enforcement community felt FBI Director Kash Patel added fuel to the fire when he cryptically posted on X following Graham’s death that the FBI was “assisting local authorities and has made every necessary resource available.” And the public confusion was compounded when FBI agents were seen entering Graham’s home in Washington, DC, on Monday – with no clear indication as to why, as sources had indicated previously there weren’t signs of foul play.

Neither Patel nor the FBI has publicly clarified the director’s statement. Sources told CNN that Patel’s post was meant to reference the normal review process law enforcement takes following a lawmaker’s death.

Much of what is known publicly from those who interacted with Graham in the hours before his death does not point to any foul play.

GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville said one of his staffers was with Graham’s scheduler Saturday evening when the South Carolina Republican called the scheduler to complain of chest pains – which could be a symptom of an aortic dissection – and asked her to call for emergency services.

“Lindsey called, called basically, said, ‘Listen, I’m having chest pains. You know, I need to do something,’” Tuberville told reporters on Monday, relaying the account of those involved. CNN also previously reported that emergency responders were dispatched to a DC address for Graham around 8:30 pm ET for a report of someone suffering chest pains, according to audio of the dispatch on Broadcastify.

Several people have said Graham sounded OK in their interactions with him before he died.

Trump has said he talked to Graham on the phone before his death, and Graham indicated he was tired from the trip but otherwise seemed fine. Sen. Katie Britt told CNN she also spoke with Graham this weekend – after he spoke with Trump – and he was

By Tami Luhby, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration has rescinded its effort to freeze $10 billion in childcare and social assistance funding for five blue states — the latest setback in its push to withhold or cut federal funding to fight alleged fraud and to punish perceived opponents.

The freeze was announced in early January amid a high-profile federal probe into fraud allegations involving federal social services in Minnesota and was paused by a federal judge in New York days later.

President Donald Trump has focused heavily on combatting fraud in his second term, making it a focal point of the midterm elections in November as Republicans seek to maintain their control of Congress. While one government analysis estimates that hundreds of billions of dollars are lost annually to fraud, the president’s critics argue the accusations are largely political and often lack proof.

In this case, the Department of Health and Human Services had sought to cut off $7.4 billion in funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which provides cash assistance to households, along with nearly $2.4 billion for the Child Care and Development Fund and around $870 million from the Social Services Block Grant.

The action was directed at California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, where the programs serve many low-income families.

The states quickly sued, arguing the administration’s effort was entirely political, as well as unconstitutional.

In a letter sent to states last week, HHS said they would no longer be subject to the requirements that attempted to restrict their access to federal funding. Also, the agency was withdrawing its requests for justification and additional information, which included looking at whether benefits were improperly provided to ineligible immigrants.

CNN has reached out to HHS for additional information.

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