Sen. Lindsey Graham, a foreign policy hawk who became a close Trump ally, dies suddenly at 71

Summary

Sen. Lindsey Graham , one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies in Congress who traveled the globe to advocate for a more aggressive U.S. foreign policy , has died after a “brief and sudden illness,” his office said. As chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Graham had a central role during Trump’s second term as Republicans pushed major legislation on party-line votes while holding a narrow 53-47 majority in the chamber. Graham, who was elected to the Senate in 2002 after serving in the House, long promoted a policy of robust U.S. military interventionism and strong national defense that in later years would put him at odds with the growing isolationist wing of the Republican Party. Joe Lieberman , I-Conn., were known as the “Three Amigos” and frequently traveled together to push their hawkish foreign policy views around the globe. As chairman of the Budget panel, Graham’s committee oversaw a process called reconciliation, a Senate procedure that allowed Republicans to pass significant policies such as last year’s tax law without the threat of a Democratic filibuster. He had previously led the Senate Judiciary Committee when Republicans confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in 2020, and was in line to regain that gavel if the party kept control of the Senate after the midterms elections. “In 2027, I’ll be Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee once again,” Graham posted on X on June 30. “And I’ll wake up every single day with one goal: confirming as many conservative judges as possible.” Graham was a key player in the Senate’s efforts to craft a massive immigration overhaul in 2013 as a member of a bipartisan group that wrote a sweeping measure that would have altered virtually every part of U.S. immigration law. It passed the Senate with 68 votes but was never taken up by the House, so it did not become law. But Graham’s views on immigration, particularly an endorsement of a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. without legal status, put him at odds with some Republican factions. Tom Kean Jr. , R-N.J., was absent without explanation for months before returning to Congress and disclosing that he had been diagnosed with depression.