U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks to reporters, as members of Congress work to resolve a dispute over immigration enforcement and avert a looming partial government shutdown, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 30, 2026. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz)
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who became one of the Senate’s most influential voices on defense and foreign policy and a close political ally of President Donald Trump, died Saturday after a brief and sudden illness, his office announced. He was 71.
Graham, first elected to the Senate in 2002 after serving four terms in the U.S. House, was chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and had recently secured the Republican nomination for a fifth Senate term.
His office said he died Saturday night but did not disclose the cause, asking for privacy for his family. Emergency responders had been dispatched to his Capitol Hill home for a reported cardiac arrest.
President Donald Trump called Graham a “true American Patriot,” while leaders in the U.S. and abroad praised his decades of military and public service. Under South Carolina law, Gov. Henry McMaster will appoint an interim replacement until early next year, with Republicans expected to hold a special primary to choose a new nominee for November’s election.
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