Senator Chuck Grassley, a lifelong Iowan, has served on the Senate Judiciary Committee since 1981, when he was first sworn into the U.S. Senate
Grassley is the second Iowan and first non-lawyer in history to chair the Judiciary Committee. He also serves as Senate President pro tempore, and is the second of four generations on the Grassley family farm in Butler County.
Within his more than four decades of service on the Judiciary Committee, Grassley previously served six years as the Committee’s Ranking Member, from 2011 to 2015 and 2021 to 2023; and four years as Chairman, from 2015 to 2019.
With five decades of legislative expertise and congressional oversight under his belt, Grassley’s passionate pursuit for holding government accountable, protecting whistleblowers, strengthening fidelity to the rule of law, reining in government overreach and upholding his oath to the U.S. Constitution anchors his approach to the chairmanship.
As Chairman Grassley says, “the work we do on the Judiciary Committee shapes our way of life in America.” His leadership on the Committee has resulted in significant achievements for the American people. On Grassley’s watch in the 115th Congress, 61 bills were reported out of the Judiciary Committee, all bipartisan. Of those, 45 were passed by the Senate and 29 became law. Grassley has also put scores of constitutionalist judges on the federal bench. During his previous tenure as Chairman, the Senate confirmed 53 district court judges, 30 circuit court judges and two Supreme Court justices. In the first two years of President Trump’s first term, these 85 federal judgeships reflected an historic record.
Looking ahead, Grassley is committed to steering through judicial nominations that strengthen the independence and integrity of the federal judiciary as our Founders intended. Judicial nominees should be focused on interpreting the law, not legislating from the bench. As Chairman in the 119th Congress, Grassley will work with the second Trump administration to confirm nominees who uphold freedom and liberty for generations to come.
The sweeping legislative jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee includes immigration, violent crime, terrorism, constitutional freedoms, bankruptcy and antitrust laws, civil liberties, intellectual property, juvenile justice, controlled substances and more.
Grassley’s no-nonsense, commonsense approach to representative government guides his approach to the chairman’s gavel. He is tireless in his efforts to keep check on the massive federal bureaucracy, rein in executive overreach and thwart the misuse of federal agencies as tools for a partisan agenda.
In addition to chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley serves on the Senate Finance, Agriculture and Budget Committees.
First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980 after serving six years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Grassley is the sixth longest-serving U.S. Senator in history and longest-ever Republican Member of Congress. He has represented Iowans in Congress through nine presidencies, cast votes on 17 nominees to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and led the confirmation hearings for Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.