Grassley Sworn in as Senate president pro tempore for 119th Congress

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) last week was sworn in as president pro tempore of the Senate. The president pro tempore is a constitutional office customarily bestowed on the longest serving member of the Senate majority party. As president pro tempore, Grassley is now the second highest-ranking official in the Senate – behind the vice president, who serves as president of the Senate – and follows the vice president and speaker of the house in the line of presidential succession.

"It's once again a privilege for me and for Iowa to serve as president pro tempore of the Senate. 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," Grassley said in a news release. "I look forward to continuing to foster civic engagement and upholding the Senate's reputation as the greatest deliberative body in the world."

The U.S. Constitution established the office of the president pro tempore, meaning president "for the time being," to preside over the Senate in the vice president's absence. Duties of the president pro tempore include: Convening the Senate; recognizing senators desiring to speak on the Senate floor; deciding points of order; enforcing decorum; administering oaths required by the Constitution; signing legislation that has passed both chambers of Congress – known as "enrolled bills" – before they are delivered to the White House for the president's signature; and recommending appointments of various congressional officers, certain commissions, advisory boards and committees.

The president pro tempore is one of three legislative officers specifically named in the U.S. Constitution. Grassley is the 91st senator to serve as president pro tempore. He previously served as president pro tempore from 2019 to 2021. The only other Iowan to hold this office was Sen. Albert Cummins from 1919 to 1925.

Grassley has represented Iowa in the U.S. Senate since 1981. He has held continuous elected office since 1959, when he first elected to the Iowa House of Representatives.