US senator Lindsey Graham died on Saturday evening local time after a “brief and sudden illness”, his office said in a statement.
Mr Graham, 71, was a prominent Republican senator from South Carolina.
“Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” his office said.
Mr Graham was elected to the US Senate in 2002.
Before serving in the upper house, he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 for South Carolina’s third congressional district, according to his website.
Earlier in his career, he was a vocal critic of US President Donald Trump before becoming one of his most loyal allies on Capitol Hill.
A defence hawk, his website said he had “consistently pushed for outcomes in the War on Terror that protect our long-term national security interests”.
Mr Graham recently served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.
He also served as a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Mr Graham was not married and lived in Seneca, South Carolina.
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Reuters
