Trump rewarded him with a Twitter shoutout — and Graham declared victory after the House agreed to vote on the next steps forward of the impeachment inquiry last week.

Graham’s stance on Mueller's investigation into Russian interference is more complicated. Last year, he co-sponsored and supported legislation to protect Mueller but didn’t bring it for a vote once he became Judiciary chairman, arguing he didn’t think Trump would fire the special counsel.

“I supported legislation with Coons and [Sens. Cory] Booker and [Thom] Tillis to make sure Mueller couldn’t be removed without cause because I really didn’t know,” Graham said. “Mueller was the event for me. If Mueller found something where the Trump people actually had been working with the Russians unfairly, that would have been difficult.”

But when it comes to the House impeachment inquiry, Graham says “this whole Ukrainian BS is just sour grapes [from] sore losers.”

Graham is already getting heat for changing his views of Trump from Jaime Harrison, a former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party vying for his Senate seat. Harrison describes Graham as a “political chameleon that changes his stripes and colors to benefit himself” and slammed him for getting “slim to none” done legislatively.

“We all know that Lindsey likes to be in the mix,” Harrison said. “It could be a gang of one and Lindsey Graham would want to be there if there’s a TV camera and a microphone. But at the end of the day how does that benefit the people of South Carolina?”

Senate Republicans are happy with Graham’s efforts to move judges through the Judiciary Committee. But Graham’s recent decision to delay a vote on Trump’s controversial judicial nominee Halil Suleyman “Sul” Ozerden — a close friend of acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney — for a fourth time prompted some confusion among Republican staffers, who questioned the repeated delays.

Graham is still working on Ozerden’s nomination, though he acknowledged a letter from the NAACP denouncing the judge was a setback for getting Democratic support.

The South Carolina Republican insists that despite his close relationship with the president, he is still the “same guy” he was before Trump was elected. He argues that he has always cared about national security and that he worked on immigration issues long before Trump became president.

POLITICO NEWSLETTERS POLITICO Playbook Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics. Sign Up Loading By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

He agrees with Trump on enhancing border security and cracking down on asylum laws. He still wishes Trump had taken a compromise he struck last year with Durbin on immigration and continues to support a pathway to citizenship. He frequently notes Trump won the 2016 election, not him.

But Graham also likes to be in the mix on issues that are outside his usual purview. He tried a last-ditch effort with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) in 2017 to repeal Obamacare — despite no history of being a health care wonk. And on environmental issues, he partnered with Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) on a clean energy bill that failed to move forward under President Barack Obama. Graham, who believes in climate change, now wants to create a global fund to address plastic pollution in the ocean.

When senators are asked about Graham, they most frequently describe him as “engaged.”

“Who? Who is that?” quipped Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) when asked about Graham’s Senate style. He added it’s a “challenge for all of us trying to figure out how to prioritize but he seems to enjoy all of it.”

While sitting in his office last week, Graham reflected on senators he admired, including John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), whom he respected for his legislative skills. When asked about criticism that he’s not getting enough legislation done, Graham responded: “The people back home like the fact that I’m involved.” He argues he’s had an impact on Trump’s policy in Syria and on impeachment.

“Putting together coalitions, arguing one day, working the next. ... I tell every new member of the Senate — you just got to understand that your enemy today can be your ally tomorrow,” he said.

