Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley is once again 3rd in line for presidency. Here’s why:

January 3

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley has once again assumed the position of Senate president pro tempore with the start of the new 119th Congress.

The position is third in line to succeed the president, behind the vice president and House speaker, and goes to the longest-serving senator in the party with a majority in the chamber. Grassley has served in the U.S. Senate since 1981.

Grassley, 91, assumes the role from U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat who took the position in 2023 when former U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont retired.

Vice President Kamala Harris administered the oath of office Friday to officially swear in Grassley.

“It’s once again a privilege for me and for Iowa to serve as President pro tempore of the Senate,” Grassley said in a statement.

“Additional responsibility won’t change the work ethic I learned as a boy on our Butler County farm. I’ll bring the same Iowa values of hard work, decency and common sense to this role as I have throughout my time in public service. I look forward to continuing to foster civic engagement and upholding the Senate’s reputation as the greatest deliberative body in the world.”

Chuck Grassley has been president pro tempore before

After former Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah retired, Grassley assumed the position in 2019 through January 2021, until Democrats narrowly took control of the chamber.

“It’s true that I’m only three heartbeats away from the presidency, but my heart is and always will be in Iowa and in the U.S. Senate …” Grassley wrote in a 2019 guest column published in the Des Moines Register.

Before Grassley claimed the position, Albert Baird Cummins was the last Iowan to serve as Senate president pro tempore from 1919 to 1925. He also was the first Iowan to fill the role.

What does the Senate president pro tempore do?

While the individual typically is third in the presidential line of succession, that has not always been the case, Grassley wrote in the column.

The president pro tempore was second in line behind the vice president from 1789 to 1886. Both the president pro tempore and the Speaker of the House were removed from the line of succession and replaced by members of the president’s Cabinet in 1886. Both positions were restored in 1947.

The position is one of a few offices specifically named in the Constitution, which states that the individual presides over the Senate when the vice president is absent or is exercising the Office of the President. Duties have changed somewhat over time as the vice president’s role has largely shifted away from day-to-day involvement with the legislative chamber, except to cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate.

The president pro tempore recognizes senators to speak and keeps order during Senate proceedings.

Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at *****@*****.tld. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @marissajpayne.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Chuck Grassley at age 91 becomes Senate president pro tempore again

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