Graham death sends shockwaves through Senate

News Graham death sends shockwaves through Senate Comments: by Max Rego - 07/12/26 10:25 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Max Rego - 07/12/26 10:25 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Saturday sent shockwaves through the Senate, as the upper chamber lost a 23-year veteran who shaped debate on a litany of foreign and domestic policy items.

Graham died on Saturday “from a brief and sudden illness,” his office said early Sunday. The chief medical examiner of Washington, D.C. preliminarily ruled the 71-year-old’s death as stemming from an aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Tributes to Graham poured in from across the aisle on Sunday, as lawmakers shared personal stories involving the four-term South Carolina Republican.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) shared a 2024 photo of himself, Graham and Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

“This pic just popped up on my phone. It [is] from when we traveled to Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day,” Cruz wrote on social platform X, adding crying, broken heart and praying hands emojis.

Progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Sunday she got to know Graham while traveling with him to Afghanistan and Ukraine.

The South Carolina Republican, a foreign policy hawk, staunchly backed Ukraine amid Russia’s continued invasion of the eastern European nation — he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday, the day before his death.

“We had just met to renew the fight for our Big Tech bill,” Warren wrote on X, referring to Graham. “Even though we disagreed on much, he was always willing to negotiate, with humor and wit. My heart goes out to his loved ones.”

Graham was the fourth-longest serving senator in the history of the Palmetto State, behind his predecessor, GOP Sen. Strom Thurmond, and Democratic Sens. Ellison Smith and Fritz Hollings.

The question of Graham’s successor, meanwhile, is for South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) to answer. Under state law, the governor must appoint a replacement to serve the remainder of the late senator’s term, which concludes on Jan. 3, 2027.

Graham also won his primary last month and was, before his death, on a glide path to a fifth term in the upper chamber in solidly conservative South Carolina. His death means the state must hold a special GOP primary for Aug. 11, exactly one month after Graham’s passing, to determine who will take his place on the ballot opposite Democrat Annie Andrews.

The filing period for the primary will open on July 21 and conclude on July 28. A runoff, if needed, will occur on Aug. 25, based on state law.

Multiple South Carolina Republicans have shown interest in succeeding Graham. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said Sunday that she will not “shut the door” on running in the special primary.

“You only live once, and… if the people of South Carolina would like me to serve in that capacity, I’ll certainly take a look at it,” she said on “Fox News Live.” Mace is set to depart the lower chamber in January, after she finished fifth in the Palmetto State’s GOP gubernatorial primary last month.

Mace is expected to conduct polling this week to measure her potential strength in a special GOP primary.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who finished third in the gubernatorial primary last month, told Bloomberg Government on Sunday he is considering running for Graham’s seat. He also told the outlet he asked President Trump for his endorsement in the special primary, to which the president replied, “Give me a week.”

Trump also said Sunday he had an individual in mind to replace Graham but declined to provide their name out of respect for the late senator.

“I don’t want to even talk about anybody, but I do have somebody that I think is really good,” the president told host Kristen Welker on NBC News’s “Meet the Press.”

Graham’s death also leaves a void on the Appropriations, Budget, Environment and Public Works and Judiciary committees, each of which he was a member of.

Since January 2025, he chaired the Budget panel, a role from which he rallied GOP senators behind the sprawling One Big Beautiful Bill Act that combined many of Trump’s priorities into a single piece of legislation.

Just as Graham’s Senate GOP colleagues elected him as chair of the committee roughly 18 months ago, the Republican conference will elect his successor.

Senate GOP rules state that prospective committee chairs are “subject to a multistep approval process,” requiring nomination by their fellow Republican committee members and approval from a majority of the conference via a secret ballot.

After Graham’s death, 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats are on the Budget panel, with Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) serving as the ranking member. Merkley said Sunday he was “shocked” at Graham’s death.

“We shared a strong interest in defending Ukraine and, to the surprise of many, in climate change,” Merkley wrote on X. “We got to know each other as we served together on three committees, including the Budget Committee, where he served as Chair and I serve as the lead Democrat.”

The Budget committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to consider the nomination of Hal Duncan to be the deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. The Hill has reached out to a committee spokesperson regarding whether the meeting will take place and who will oversee it.

A spokesperson for Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), who is in line to succeed Graham as chair of the panel, told The Hill on Sunday the third-term senator is “prepared to serve as budget chair when announced.”

Graham’s death also complicates the equation for Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chair of the Senate Appropriations panel. With Graham’s death and the continued absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who as of Sunday remains hospitalized after a June fall left him briefly unconscious, Democrats hold a 14-13 edge on the committee.

Collins, one of 12 senators who entered the upper chamber before Graham did in January 2003, mourned her “good friend and valued colleague” on Sunday.

“His legislative skills and ever-present wit will be sorely missed by those of us fortunate enough to have served with him,” the Maine Republican wrote on X.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) also paid tribute to Graham on Sunday, noting his service as a judge advocate general officer and colonel in the U.S. Air Force and his belief in “the might of America to achieve good in the world.”

Graham consistently advocated for U.S. military intervention abroad, including in Iraq in the early 2000s and more recently in Iran.

Thune wrote on X, “As South Carolina’s senior senator, Lindsey fought passionately for the Palmetto State. He was a trusted adviser and colleague to me and many others, and numerous presidents and heads of state have relied on his counsel. His influence on the federal judiciary, our national defense, and his beloved South Carolina will be felt for generations.”

Emily Brooks contributed reporting.