Senate Republicans have returned to Washington with an uncertain agenda after the sudden death of prominent figure Lindsey Graham, a committee chairman and key player who served as a crucial ally with Donald Trump.
Mr Graham, 71, died on Saturday after suffering a tear in his aorta, according to a statement from his office on Sunday.
The news came after another prominent Republican senator, Mitch McConnell, was admitted to hospital for almost a month. He broke a weeks-long silence about his health on Sunday, saying that he was still recovering after suffering from pneumonia and falling in his home.
The continued absence of Mr McConnell and the surprise death of Mr Graham have shaken Republicans who were already at odds with the president and stalled on several priorities as they return from a two-week recess.
The reduced Republican numbers in the 53-47 Senate are sure to add confusion to what was already expected to be a chaotic and difficult few months before the November mid-term elections.
Despite consolidated power in Washington, Republicans have been unable to get much done as the Senate, House of Representatives and White House have disagreed on legislative priorities and as Mr Trump has criticised Senate Republicans, in particular, for not passing his legislation to require proof of citizenship for voters.
Mr Graham, who was one of Mr Trump’s closest friends in the Senate, often served as a pivotal intermediary.
By order of President Trump, flags at the White House are lowered to half-staff in memory of the late Senator Lindsey Graham 🇺🇸 https://t.co/bSxtoX7qHT pic.twitter.com/Wk0GWTABbw
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 12, 2026
“He was a great — like a gauge, a temperature gauge of the Senate,” Mr Trump said of Mr Graham on Sunday, noting they had talked on Saturday. “He could go in and get something approved. He would just get people on his side.”
The Senate left town two weeks ago after a rough few weeks for Republicans. Mr Trump blocked senators from confirming one of his own nominees, asked them to fund parts of his White House ballroom project despite opposition and forced them to defend the Iran war even as they questioned the strategy and endgame.
He also refused to sign a bipartisan, election-year housing bill which had the support of large bipartisan majorities in both chambers, arguing that they should pass his bill to require proof of citizenship, the SAVE America Act, instead.
The bill became law on Friday at midnight after he declined to sign it but did not veto it.
The alliance between Mr Trump and Senate Republicans has also been weakened after the president endorsed the opponents of two Republican senators who had been reliable votes, John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy. Mr Cassidy challenged Mr Trump directly on the Iran war in a Capitol meeting just before they left town.
Republicans return to a number of important agenda items, including the confirmation of Mr Trump’s pick for attorney general, Todd Blanche, and the confirmation of Jay Clayton, who Mr Trump selected to be director of national intelligence and later temporarily blocked.
They also must find a way to navigate Democratic opposition and Mr Trump’s continued anger to keep the government open and prevent a shutdown again. Mr Graham was a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, as is Mr McConnell.
Mr Graham also sat on the Judiciary Committee which will consider Mr Blanche’s nomination and is the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, which has been under pressure from House Republicans and Mr Trump to move a budget package with increased defence spending for Iran.
There is also bipartisan legislation to move forward on a package of Russia sanctions that Mr Graham had announced on Friday after an agreement with the Trump administration.
Senate leaders have not announced how they will honour Mr Graham, who died after a tear in the inner wall of the aorta, called an aortic dissection, related to hardening of the arteries, according to his office. An official cause of death will be disclosed after toxicological and microscopic testing, his office said.
Mr Graham, a prominent South Carolina Republican and former Air Force lawyer who served in Congress for more than three decades, had just returned from a trip to Ukraine.
A number of Republican names began circulating as possible replacements to serve the rest of Graham’s term, including three candidates who fell short for the party’s nomination for governor this year — Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman and Pamela Evette. Also in the mix is Russell Fry, who was elected to the House in 2022.
Mr Trump said on Monday that he had recommended that South Carolina governor Henry McMaster appoint Mr Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, as his temporary replacement in the Senate.
