For the better part of two decades, Republican Alan K. Simpson represented America's least populous state in the U.S. Senate.

According to CBS News, the 93-year-old former lawmaker passed away this past week after struggling to recover from a broken hip in December. 

Simpson was "gifted in crossing party lines and building bipartisan consensus"

CBS News cited a statement from Simpson's older brother, Peter Simpson, who described his late sibling as "an uncommonly generous man."

"And I mean generous in an absolutely unconditional way. Giving of his time, giving of his energy — and he did it in politics and he did it in the family, forever," Simpson stated.

Former Wyoming House Speaker Colin Simpson is one of Simpson's three children, he spoke up as well, asserting that his father was "gifted in crossing party lines and building bipartisan consensus."

"Dad and Pete have anchored the extended Simpson family for decades with the same love, humor, compassion and dedication their parents did before them," the former Wyoming state representative went on to stress.

"Dad was a mighty force and with Mom’s steady hand by his side we are so blessed and proud to have been along for the ride of a lifetime," he added.

Simpson was appointed to debt commission by then President Barack Obama

While Simpson served three terms in the Senate from 1979 until 1997, his influence in Washington long after he had left office.

CBS News noted how in 2010 he was tasked by then President Barack Obama with running a debt-reduction commission alongside former Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles.

Officially known as the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, it put forward a plan which included trillions in spending reductions along with a reduction in the number of tax code deductions.

However, the plan's provisions were never implemented as they lacked widespread support with either party on Capitol Hill.

Simpson was well known for holding liberal views on abortion

Yet despite being a longtime advocate for fiscal restraint, the Wyoming lawmaker was also notorious for voicing liberal social views.

Former GOP Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming, a political legend whose quick wit bridged partisan gaps in the years before today's political acrimony, has died. He was 93. https://t.co/r5XfS8dqdB pic.twitter.com/hXPCqNwqYQ

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) March 14, 2025

As CBS News noted, Simpson championed abortion rights and at one point suggested that men should be prohibited from voting on the issue.