Grassley is the senior senator from Iowa and President Pro Tempore of the Senate as a Republican. He has served in that role since Jan 3, 2017. Grassley is next up for reelection in 2022.
He was previously a senator from Iowa as a Republican from 1981 to 2016; and the representative for Iowa’s 3rd congressional district as a Republican from 1975 to 1980.
![Photo of Sen. Charles “Chuck” Grassley [R-IA]](/static/legislator-photos/300048-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2018 Report Card for Grassley.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Grassley is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Grassley has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Mar 14, 2019. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Charles “Chuck” Grassley sits on the following committees:
-
Chair,
Senate Committee on Finance
- Member, Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
- Member, Subcommittee on Health Care
- Member, Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy
- Joint Committee on Taxation
-
Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
- Member, Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade
- Member, Subcommittee on Conservation, Forestry, and Natural Resources
- Member, Subcommittee on Livestock, Marketing, and Agriculture Security
- Senate Committee on the Budget
-
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
- Member, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights
- Member, Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration
- Member, Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism
- Member, Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts
- United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control
Enacted Legislation
Grassley was the primary sponsor of 79 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 1312 (115th): Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2017
- S. 3747: First Step Act of 2018
- S. 3649: First Step Act
- S. 3354: Missing Children’s Assistance Act of 2018
- S. 2559: Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act
- S. 2946: Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act of 2018
- S. 3339: Protecting Access to the Courts for Taxpayers Act
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Grassley sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Crime and Law Enforcement (27%) Health (24%) Education (13%) Government Operations and Politics (10%) Commerce (7%) Immigration (7%) Law (7%) Families (6%)
Recent Bills
Some of Grassley’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 770: A bill to provide for media coverage of Federal court proceedings.
- S. 744: A bill to amend section 175b of title 18, United States Code, to ...
- S. 617: Tax Extender and Disaster Relief Act of 2019
- S. 556: Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act
- S. 495: EAGLES Act of 2019
- S.Res. 76: A resolution designating March 1, 2019, as “National Speech and Debate Education Day”.
- S. 471: Litigation Funding Transparency Act of 2019
View All » | View Cosponsors »
As President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Grassley may be focused on his responsibilities other than introducing legislation, such as setting the chamber’s agenda, uniting his party, and brokering deals.
Voting Record
Key Votes
| Grassley’s Vote | Vote Description |
|---|---|
| Yea |
H.J.Res. 31: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019
Feb 14, 2019. Conference Report Agreed to 83/16.
This bill, in its final form, funded the parts of the federal government whose funding was to lapse on February 15, 2019. On December 22, 2018 the 115th Congress was unable to reach a deal to fund some federal agencies through fiscal year 2019 after ... |
| Nay |
H.R. 2: Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018
Dec 11, 2018. Conference Report Agreed to 87/13.
See the Congressional Research Service's 122-page summary of the bill. * * * H.R. 2 amends and extends major programs for income support, food and nutrition, land conservation, trade promotion, rural development, research, forestry, horticulture, and other miscellaneous programs administered by the Department of Agriculture ... |
| Nay |
H.R. 1892: Further Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018; Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2018, the SUSTAIN Care Act of 2018; Family First Prevention Services Act.; Honoring Hometown ...
Feb 9, 2018. Motion Agreed to 71/28.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of funding for the federal government through March 23, 2018, to avert a government shutdown that would have occurred on February 9, 2018 had this bill not been enacted. The bill was introduced as the Honoring Hometown Heroes ... |
| Yea |
H.J.Res. 43: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule submitted by Secretary of Health and Human Services relating ...
Mar 30, 2017. Joint Resolution Passed 51/50.
Joe Biden never got the opportunity to break a single 50-50 Senate tie in eight years as vice president. Mike Pence has already broken two. One from last month has since become law: a measure allowing states to withhold federal Planned Parenthood funding. (The other ... |
| Yea |
H.R. 5325: Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2017
Sep 28, 2016. Bill Passed 72/26.
The Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, and Zika Response and Preparedness Act (H.R. 5325) is an appropriations bill which extended funding at the previous year's levels up to December 9, 2016 (10 weeks). After this, a continuing ... |
| Yea |
H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015
Sep 18, 2014. Joint Resolution Passed 78/22.
|
| Nay |
H.R. 4310 (112th): National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013
Dec 21, 2012. Conference Report Agreed to 81/14.
|
| Nay |
On the Nomination PN399: Susan Owens Hickey, of Arkansas, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas
Oct 13, 2011. Nomination Confirmed 83/8.
|
| Nay |
S.Res. 116 (112th): A resolution to provide for expedited Senate consideration of certain nominations subject to advice and consent.
Jun 29, 2011. Resolution Agreed to 89/8.
|
Missed Votes
From Jan 1981 to Mar 2019, Grassley missed 36 of 12,881 roll call votes, which is 0.3%. This is better than the median of 1.4% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
- Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
