Orrin Hatch, longest-serving Republican U.S. senator, dies at 88

The conservative lawmaker from Utah who served seven terms as senator died on Saturday at the age of 88.

In his four-decade-long career as a senator, Hatch championed several key GOP causes including curbs on abortion and helping build a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Later in his career, he became an ally of former President Donald Trump, and as the chairman of the Senate Financial Committee, he helped pushed through a major rewrite of the U.S. tax code. Despite being backed to run for an eighth term, Hatch retired in 2019, stating that “every good fighter knows when to hang up the gloves.”

In a statement, the Orrin Hatch Foundation said the former senator passed away at 5.30 p.m. in Salt Lake City surrounded by family, but did not mention a cause.

Hatch is survived by his wife and their six children.

Hatch served alongside seven presidents from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump and helped shape nearly 12,000 pieces of legislation.

While Hatch was staunchly conservative, he also teamed up with Democrats several times during his career.