Sen. Lindsey Graham dies at 71 after what his office called a brief and sudden illness

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who spent 23 years in the Senate and became one of President Donald Trump's closest advisers on foreign policy, died Saturday evening after what his office called a "brief and sudden illness." He was 71.

The announcement came in a statement posted to social media by Graham's office and reported by the Associated Press. It gave no cause of death and no further detail about the illness. "Senator Graham's family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period," the statement said.

Graham was elected to the Senate in 2002 and won his party's primary on June 9 while running for a fifth term. He had been in Kyiv on Friday, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and had announced an agreement with the Trump administration that day to move ahead on a package of Russia sanctions, according to the AP.

What happens to the seat

South Carolina law puts the appointment in the hands of Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, who will name someone to serve out the remainder of Graham's term. Because that term ends Jan. 3, less than six months from now, no special election is required to fill the unexpired portion, NBC News reported.

The seat was already on the November ballot, and the state now has to produce a new Republican nominee for it. Local outlets covering the process report a compressed calendar:

The Republican who emerges will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews in November. McMaster's appointee and the eventual nominee can be the same person, but they do not have to be, FOX Carolina reported.

Until McMaster names someone, Republicans are one vote down in a chamber they control 53-47, according to the Washington Examiner. McMaster is term-limited and co-chaired Graham's reelection campaign.

The record

Graham served in the Air Force and the Judge Advocate General's Corps, won a House seat in 1994 and moved to the Senate eight years later. He ran briefly for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and spent that campaign as one of Trump's sharper critics, then became one of his most reliable allies once Trump was in office, advising him on Iran and Russia and playing golf with him regularly.

His signature issue was foreign policy, and specifically a hard line on Iran. In the House in the 1990s he backed policies aimed at isolating the country and constraining its missile and nuclear programs. He supported last year's U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and the current conflict, the AP reported.

The sparse statement from his office lands in a stretch when lawmakers' health has been a live question in Washington. Rep. Tom Kean Jr., a New Jersey Republican, was absent for months without explanation before disclosing a depression diagnosis, and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was hospitalized weeks ago for reasons that were not disclosed.

Reaction

Trump called Graham "one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known" and a "true American Patriot" in a post on Truth Social, as reported by NBC News. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Graham's "influence on the federal judiciary, our national defense, and his beloved South Carolina will be felt for generations."

McMaster called Graham "irreplaceable" and "the fiercest of fighters for South Carolina and America."

Zelenskyy, in a post on X, said he was "deeply saddened" and noted that Graham "visited Ukraine ten times during the years of Russia's full-scale invasion."

Sen. Tim Scott, Graham's South Carolina colleague, wrote: "South Carolina lost a statesman and I've lost a friend."

Rep. Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican who has clashed with Graham, wrote: "We did not always agree, but no one ever questioned his love for South Carolina or the fight he brought to every room he walked into."

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.