Family, staff and current and former lawmakers, including former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, in background, filed past the flag-draped casket of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., at the congressional tribute in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress paid tribute to their longtime colleague, the late Republican Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda Tuesday morning ahead of a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral, where Graham’s close ally President Donald Trump was expected to speak.
Heads of state, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, flew to Washington to attend the service. Graham was a steadfast Israel supporter, and advocated for U.S. support to Ukraine, which he visited in his last days before dying on July 11.
Vice President JD Vance, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and U.S. Rep. Sheri Biggs, R-S.C., remembered the South Carolina lawmaker as a staunch conservative with a sense of humor who never forgot his humble roots in a small town.
“Here in Washington, a town where many lose sight of who sent them here and why they are here at all, Lindsey never forgot where he came from or who he was here to serve,” said Biggs, who represents the same district Graham represented as a House member.
A visibly emotional Thune praised Graham as a “towering figure of the Senate and on the international stage.”
“He was a fierce defender of Ukraine, he was a fierce defender of the unborn. And on the surface these might seem like two completely separate issues, but it strikes me in another way they are both of a piece. In both cases, Lindsey Graham saw injustice, and he spoke up,” Thune said.
Vance, a former senator, recalled a heated argument with Graham last Congress at a Senate lunch about a funding bill for Ukraine and his surprise that Graham continued to build support for a railway safety bill championed by Vance following the 2023 toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
“And that was the kind of colleague he could be — a person you argued with and fought with in one minute but behind the scenes, without collecting an ounce of credit, was working for you and working for the things that you cared about,” Vance said.
Vance also credited Graham with the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who faced allegations of past sexual misconduct during his Senate confirmation hearings.
“What he saw happening to Kavanaugh was not policy disagreement; it was character assassination,” Vance said. “And Lindsey got as fiery and as passionate as I have ever seen a human being get during a judicial confirmation, and I believe that he saved that nomination.”
A last trip to Kyiv
Graham’s last act as a senator was a trip to Kyiv to meet with Zelenskyy.
In his final remarks to the press July 10 in Kyiv, Graham said he spoke to the White House to get the green light on a Russia sanctions bill.
“When I get back to Washington, I’m gonna go with Sen. (Richard) Blumenthal to the Republican and Democratic leader to see if we can find time to move this Russian sanctions package that would give tools to President Trump to help end this war,” Graham said.
Graham announced the agreement with the White House in one of his last posts on X the day before his death.
Zelenskyy is expected to meet Tuesday evening with senators following Graham’s funeral, and ahead of a Senate vote on Graham’s sanctions legislation, which now bears his name in the bill title.
Trump wrote on Truth Social on July 19, “Republicans should add Iran to the Russian Sanctions Bill. That’s what Lindsey wanted to do, and it was going to happen. IMPORTANT!!! President DJT”
Graham was an advocate and supporter for Trump’s war in Iran, which the president launched in conjunction with Israel in late February.
Brief and sudden illness
Graham, who two days prior turned 71, died in Washington, D.C., after a “brief and sudden illness,” according to an initial statement from his office. Preliminary findings shared the next day by Graham’s office from the District of Columbia’s medical examiner revealed the late senator died of an aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Graham was scheduled to make his 64th appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” on July 12. Welker instead hosted a special memorial episode recounting Graham’s life, and interviewed Trump by phone.
Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, was sworn in to the U.S. Senate on July 14 to serve the remainder of the late senator’s term, which ends in January.
A special Republican primary election will be held in South Carolina on Aug. 11, with a tentative run-off election date set for Aug. 25, if needed.
Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform Sen. Darline Graham has his “Complete and Total Endorsement” for the quickly approaching special election.
“I hope Darline does this, in that there would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey. Darline, who comes from an absolutely incredible family, has been a WINNER all of her life … SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN. RUN, DARLINE, RUN!,” Trump wrote.
Graham, an Air Force veteran, served in the U.S. House from 1995 to 2003, and was appointed as a manager for impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton in 1998. Graham served as a U.S. senator from 2003 until his death in July.
He unsuccessfully ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, during which Graham was an outspoken critic of Trump.
Graham also vehemently denounced Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, after a mob of Trump supporters violently broke into the Capitol with the goal of stopping Congress from certifying the presidential election win for President Joe Biden.
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