(Radio Iowa) – With Republicans holding the majority in the U-S Senate, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is again serving as senate president pro tem — making the 91-year-old senator third in the line of succession to become the nation’s commander-in-chief.
When the subject comes up, Grassley says it makes him smile, not because he doesn’t take his job seriously, but because of the unlikely circumstances. Grassley says he understands his responsibilities if something drastic were to happen, saying he’d “be ready to serve,” adding, “it doesn’t weigh on me a whole lot.” Something would have to happen to the president, vice president and speaker of the house for Grassley to end up in the Oval Office.
The title of senate president pro tem goes to the longest-serving senator from the party that has a majority of seats. Grassley’s been in the role before, in 2019 and 2020.
