Lindsey Graham Hits Disney World as Americans Endure Airport Hell

Lindsey Graham spent the weekend at the most magical place on Earth: Disney World. The South Carolina Republican was dining at the park and wandering around with a bubble wand, according to photos published Monday by TMZ. While Graham lived out his fairy-tale fantasies in the Magic Kingdom, thousands of travelers across the country were subjected to nightmarishly long lines at major airports, and the government still remains in partial shutdown. 

Graham hasn’t directly responded to the online criticism of his vacation, but he wrote Monday on social media that it was “time for a 60 day [Continuing Resolution] to work on a new deal,” and accused Democrats, the minority party, of “playing a dangerous game with our homeland security.” Not too dangerous to leave the Capitol, though.

TMZ later on Monday posted another photo of Graham at Disney World, this one of the senator getting ready to ride Space Mountain.

Last week, the House of Representatives rejected a deal proposed by the Senate that would have unlocked funding for the Transportation Security Administration. TSA paychecks have been held for over a month as a result of the congressional dispute over additional funds for ICE and Customs and Border Patrol. The partial shutdown has resulted in hundreds of TSA agents quitting or calling out of work as they seek other forms of income to make ends meet. The Trump administration has begun attempting to pay off part of what TSA agents are owed through existing DHS funding pools, and as of Monday workers have started to receive paychecks, but a funding deal remains elusive. 

Amid the chaos rocking airports, and the war against Iran — one which Graham has been giddily cheerleading — Congress felt it was still a good idea to leave D.C. and head home for their two-week spring recess. Graham was spotted at Disney, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) was photographed at a casino in Las Vegas (where he says he was grabbing lunch with his father). Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.C.) and Sen. Ted Cruz were both photographed at D.C.’s Reagan Airport catching flights out of the city on Friday. 

Several of the lawmakers who had their vacations papped were outed by TMZ, which put out a call for photographs and video of members of Congress enjoying their time off amid the shutdown. 

“If anybody goes to Disney World with their family for spring break, or goes to a beach somewhere, or anywhere on vacation, and you see any one of the 535 members of Congress, take a picture and send it to us,” TMZ founder and editor Harvey Levin said in a video posted to social media. “We want to show what they are doing at your expense.” 

Even the White House knows lawmakers need to get their act together. On monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during her daily briefing that Trump is “encouraging Congress to come back to Washington to permanently fix this problem and to fund and reopen the Department of Homeland Security entirely.”

But even though Trump and Republicans currently control all three branches of the government, it seems the president can’t convince his allies to keep the party in D.C. Then again, the president launched the war from his resort, Mar-a-Lago, and has gone golfing no fewer than six times since it began, including this past weekend.