Storm Lake Times Pilot

Grassley staying quiet on his 2022 reelection plans



WASHINGTON — With the 2020 election over and political speculation shifting to 2022, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley is staying mum on whether he plans to seek an eighth term in the U.S. Senate. 

“I have no news on that,” Grassley responded during a conference call Thursday with Iowa reporters, declining to give a timeline on when he may make up his mind.

Grassley, 87, was first elected to the Senate in 1980, after serving three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and 16 years in the state Legislature. He’s the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate, and would be 95 years old at the end of another six-year term.

Grassley said earlier this year that he’d make up his mind on seeking another Senate term eight months to a year before the 2022 election.

The senator will return to a top post on the Judiciary Committee in the next congressional session after chairing the influential Finance panel, whose jurisdiction includes tax, Social Security and health policy, during the past two years.

 If Republicans hold on to the majority after two runoff races in Georgia, Grassley would be the chairman, and if not, the ranking Republican, on Judiciary.

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