Washington DC (Washington Insider Magazine) — Chuck Grassley is an American politician. He has served as the senior United States senator from Iowa and as a pro tempore emeritus president of the United States Senate. Having first been elected in 1980, he was reelected to his eighth Senate term in 2022. In January 2023, he overtook Orrin Hatch’s record as the longest-serving Republican in U.S. Senate history. He is also the sixth longest-serving U.S. senator in history.
Education And Early Life
Grassley was born on September 17, 1933, in New Hartford, Iowa, and raised on a farm. He attended the local high school and attained a Bachelor of Arts from Iowa State Teachers College in 1955 and a Master of Arts in political science one year later. Whilst enrolled as a student, Grassley joined the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. He decided not to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Iowa after all.
Early Career
In the 1950s, Grassley worked in factories in Iowa as an assembly line worker and sheet metal shearer. From 1967 to 1968, Grassley taught at Charles City College. From 1959 to 1975, Grassley represented parts of Butler County in the Iowa House of Representatives. Grassley then served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1975 to 1981.
Political Career
Grassley has been a member of the Republican Party since 1959. He has served eight terms in the Iowa House of Representatives, three terms in the United States House of Representatives, and three stints as Senate Finance Committee chairman. When Orrin Hatch’s term came to an end in 2019, Grassley became the most senior Republican in the Senate and its president pro tempore. In January 2023, Patrick Leahy’s retirement gave him the distinction of being the most senior member of the Senate. He has chaired the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate Narcotics Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Senate Aging Committee during his four decades in the Senate.
US Senate
At the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C., Senator Grassley spoke. In 2016, Grassley ran for a seventh term. As the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump won Iowa with more than 51% of the vote. He won his seventh term with over 60% of the vote over former Democratic lieutenant governor Patty Judge.
In May 2021, Senator Grassley stated that he wouldn’t decide whether to stand for reelection in 2022 until eight to twelve months before the election. Many believed that a potential vacancy for the Iowa seat would be beneficial for Democrats, as they could persuade many of Grassley’s supporters to cast their vote for their candidate.
In July of the same year, former U.S. Representative Abby Finkenauer declared her intention to contest for the seat. In September of 2021, Grassley announced his aim to seek an eighth term. This announcement was perceived as helping Republicans maintain power in Grassley’s seat and retake control of the Senate majority in 2022. On November 8th of 2022, he triumphed in the general election over his Democratic counterpart Michael Franken.
Abortion Law
Grassley has long been a vocal proponent of pro-life causes. In 1981, he voted in favor of Orrin Hatch’s proposed constitutional amendment. More recently, Grassley was a co-sponsor of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act reintroduced in 2019. He supported the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, arguing that it enabled individuals to elect representatives who could make wise policy decisions.
The Agricultural Industry
In April 2019, Grassley was one of seven senators to sign a letter led by Debbie Stabenow and Joni Ernst to United States secretary of agriculture Sonny Perdue. It urged the Agriculture Department to implement conservation measures in 2018. He promoted the Farm Bill “through a department-wide National Water Quality Initiative, which would build on a program at the Natural Resource Conservation Service.”
The Anti-Trust Laws
In October 2021, Grassley and Senator Amy Klobuchar introduced the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S.2992). The legislation aims to prevent Big Tech companies from engaging in anti-competitive behavior by “self-referencing” their products. Grassley confirmed Jonathan Kanter as Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Antitrust Division.
Environment And Energy
Sen. Grassley has expressed discontent with the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations and impacts on farming, calling it a “public relations problem”. He believes that with 31 issued biofuel exemptions, farmers have been unfairly treated and the EPA has not aided President Trump in aiding American farmers. Furthermore, in 1992 he was the author of EPACT 1992 which brought forth the federal wind energy tax credit.
In 2005, Grassley authored the tax title of EPACT 2005 as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and voted for the bill on June 28. Two years later, he supported energy incentives from alternative sources such as ethanol, wind, biomass, and biodiesel. Additionally, according to a 2017 report from the Environmental Working Group, Grassley has obtained $367,763 in grain commodity subsidies over 21 years.
He is also an advocate for federal ethanol subsidies. On the Paris Agreement specifically, he said it puts the U.S. economy at a major disadvantage while other countries like China and India benefit without any commitment. Additionally, he disliked that it never got support in the Senate with a vote.
Estate Taxes
Grassley is in favor of repealing the estate tax, which applies when inherited assets exceed $5.5 million for individuals and $11 million for couples. He claims that the tax will be detrimental to farmers and small business owners. However, the Des Moines Register raises concerns, asserting that federal data does not support this view. Few people from Iowa are subject to the estate tax, and an insignificant amount of them are farmers or small business owners.
Personal Life
In 1954, Chuck Grassley and Barbara Ann Speicher got married. They have five children – Lee, Wendy, Robin, Michele, and Jay. Furthermore, Grassley is part of the Family that organizes the National Prayer Breakfast. His grandson Pat is an Iowa House of Representatives, member. Additionally, he attracts much public attention for his long-term conflict with the History Channel for its lack of actual historical content.
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Net Worth
Chuck Grassley has an estimated net worth of over $7.5 million.