According to his office, Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley was hospitalized this week and is receiving treatment for an infection.
Grassley, 90 years old, was re-elected to the Senate seven times since his initial election in 1980; the most recent re-election was in 2022.
A year after undergoing hip surgery, the Iowa Republican utilized a scooter for a brief period of time.
Notwithstanding his September designation as the sole nonagenarian in the Senate, the eight-term senator, whose daily early morning runs were a longstanding occurrence, has otherwise exhibited good health in the corridors of Congress.
Since 1980, Grassley has served as the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. Grassley was first elected to the Senate in 1980.
He served as the Senate’s pro tempore president as the senior most Republican until the Democrats seized power in 2021.
The chamber is presided over by the president pro tempore, who also serves as the third in line of presidential succession and initiates daily proceedings.
Grassley commenced his political trajectory in 1956, at the age of 23, when he was elected to the state Legislature.
His tenure at the Iowa Statehouse spanned a period of 18 years prior to his election to the U.S. House in 1974.
Grassley has surpassed then-Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who died just a few months prior to his departure, as the oldest senator currently serving in the United States Senate.
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