Sen. Lindsey Graham's funeral service to take place in DC on Tuesday

Graham will first be recognized with a ceremony in the Capitol rotunda.

July 28, 2026, 4:47 AM

National political leaders and prominent figures from around the globe will remember South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham with a ceremony on Capitol Hill and a funeral service in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

Graham served more than two decades in the Senate, becoming one of the chamber's most recognizable Republicans and one of President Donald Trump's closest friends and advisers. He advised the president on foreign matters, including the recent war in Iran, and was a prominent fixture of the Senate’s powerful Judiciary Committee. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham introduces Adm. Kevin Lunday during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on the nomination Lunday for Commandant of the Coast Guard, Nov. 19, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

He died suddenly and unexpectedly on July 11 at the age of 71. Preliminary findings from the Medical Examiner of the District of Columbia said that the senator died due to "aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease." 

Graham will first be recognized on Tuesday with a ceremony in the Capitol rotunda. His casket will be brought to the Capitol where he will be honored by his fellow senators.

Details of that ceremony have not yet been made available.

Flowers outside the office of Sen. Lindsey Graham, on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 16, 2026.
Allison Robbert/AP Photo

Later Tuesday, there will be a funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump is expected to speak at the service, according to the office of Darline Graham, the late senator's sister who was sworn in earlier this month to finish out the rest of his term.

The cathedral funeral is expected to be attended by a number of world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Graham worked closely with both men as a staunch ally to both nations. Graham spent some of his final days in Ukraine and met with Zelenskyy just before he died. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting with Sen. Lindsey Graham in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 10, 2026.
Presidential Press Service/EPA/Shutterstock

Graham's casket will return to South Carolina on Wednesday, where further memorial services are set for Columbia, the state's capital, and Pickens County, where Graham grew up and part of the district he represented.

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