Senator Graham dies while leading Senate budget panel

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Graham died while serving as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and as a member of the Appropriations, Judiciary, and Environment and Public Works panels. He was a conservative dealmaker known for outspoken and sometimes controversial remarks on topics from trade tariffs to Iran's supreme leader. His 2008 milestone made him the first South Carolina candidate to win more than one million general-election votes. Before Congress he served as an Air Force lawyer for six-and-a-half years, including a posting at Rhein-Main Air Force Base in Germany from 1984 to 1988. His death creates a vacancy in senior committee leadership and could prompt Republican leadership changes.

He chaired the Senate Budget Committee at the time of his death.