U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham Dies at 71 After Brief and Sudden Illness

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died Saturday evening at age 71 after a brief and sudden illness, his office said in a statement posted on his official X account. Graham represented South Carolina in the Senate since taking office in 2003 following his election the prior year.

He served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and held seats on the Appropriations, Judiciary, and Environment and Public Works committees. He was running for a fifth term in the November 2026 election. Graham had met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday, July 10, and had just returned from the trip.

His office requested privacy for the family and asked for prayers. NBC News reported that emergency personnel responded to a call for cardiac arrest at Graham's Capitol Hill residence on Saturday night. Photographs reviewed by the outlet showed paramedics carrying a person on a stretcher from the home to an ambulance.

Graham was a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve colonel who served as a military lawyer. He lived in Seneca, South Carolina, and was not married. He had been scheduled to appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.