Statewide Iowa — (RI) — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley learned this week he’ll become the Senate President Pro Tem in January. It means he’ll be third in line to the presidency, behind the vice president and the speaker of the U.S. House.
Grassley says it also means he’ll need to get used to having security detail around the clock.
If elected to the position after the new Congress is sworn in, Grassley will become just the second Iowan to serve as President Pro Tem in the Senate. Albert Cummins was the 18th Governor of Iowa before serving in the U.S. Senate, where he was President Pro Tem between 1919 and 1925. The current President Pro Tempore of the Senate is Utah Republican Orrin Hatch. He plans to retire on January 3.
Grassley has also announced his intention to give up the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee to become chair of the Finance Committee.
