Sen. Lindsey Graham will support President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the CIA, he announced in the hours after the pick was revealed.

In a series of tweets Monday, shortly after Biden announced William Burns as his choice for CIA director, Graham (R-SC) lavished praise on the veteran diplomat and early architect of the Iran deal.

“Bill Burns is an outstanding choice to be the next Director of the CIA,” the South Carolina senator tweeted. “I have known him for years. He has a deep understanding of the threats our nation faces throughout the world.”

Calling him a “well-known, seasoned diplomat and respected figure in the intelligence community,” Graham said Burns would “be a steady hand at the helm of the CIA” and compared him to outgoing CIA Director Gina Haspel.

“I look forward to supporting his nomination,” his second tweet closed.

Burns, a former ambassador to Russia and Jordan and a deputy secretary of state, was most recently known for the critical role he played in brokering the Iran nuclear deal for the Obama administration.

Despite that being considered a policy supported by the liberal side of the aisle, the 64-year-old has served presidents of both parties over a 33-year career.

Last week, Graham praised another of Biden’s picks, Merrick Garland as attorney general.

The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman wrote in a tweet Wednesday, “I believe Judge Garland would be a sound choice to be the next Attorney General. He is a man of great character, integrity, and tremendous competency in the law.”

When President Barack Obama nominated Garland to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016, Graham also praised the judge, but said he believed that whoever won the presidential election later that year should decide who would fill the seat.

“My view is that the next president should decide. And it’s nothing against him personally. I think he’s a very capable, honest judge,” Graham said in April of that year, after meeting with Garland in his Senate office.

Graham and Biden have been friends for years, dating back to at least 2003, when Graham was elected to the US Senate.

Speaking to the Huffington Post in a 2015 interview, the GOP senator described Biden as “the nicest person I think I’ve ever met in politics.”

“If you can’t admire Joe Biden as a person, you’ve got a problem. You need to do some self-evaluation, ‘cause, what’s not to like?” Graham said, growing emotional as he spoke about his friend, whom he described as “as good a man as God ever created.”

Their relationship took a turn, however, during and after President Trump’s first impeachment trial.

Graham began publicly supporting Trump’s push for an investigation into Hunter Biden’s questionable business dealings in Ukraine while his father was vice president of the United States.

“Joe Biden is a dear friend,” the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman told reporters in January 2020, “[but] his son was receiving $50,000 a month from a gas company run by the most corrupt guy in Ukraine and about two months after they raided the gas company’s president’s home, they fired the prosecutor.”

The Trump foe-turned-ally had encouraged the outgoing president to pursue legal challenges to the 2020 presidential election results, but declined to support congressional efforts to overturn Biden’s victory.

Since Biden’s victory was affirmed by the Electoral College, however, Graham has pledged to work with his administration.

For his part, Biden has declined to say whether his and Graham’s former friendship could be salvaged when asked about the matter in December, only saying he was confident he could work with the other side of the aisle.

“Lindsey’s been a personal disappointment because I was a personal friend of his. But look, I think I can work with Republican leadership in the House and the Senate and get things done.”