Chuck Grassley, 93, still does his job amid age concerns in Congress

Sept. 17, 2026Updated Sept. 18, 2026, 7:17 a.m. ET

A brown-frosted, white piping-lined, red-lettered “Happy Birthday Senator Grassley” Dairy Queen ice cream cake is in the U.S. Capitol today, as Congress’ oldest – Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley – celebrates his 93rd birthday from his Washington, D.C., office and Senate voting chambers.

The senator started his 93rd birthday with a two-mile walk, which his office says he does every morning before work. The senator used to be a runner, but says he stopped that in the past four years.

“Take a look at me. Don’t I look pretty good?” Grassley told USA TODAY when asked how he feels about his age and the rest of his term. He added: “I’m 93 years old. I got great grandchildren older than you,” in a joking response to USA TODAY’s 23-year-old reporter.

Grassley’s milestone birthday comes amid Americans’ rising concern about the health of elected officials and while most Americans support a maximum age limit for members of Congress.

Besides Grassley, there are other near-90-year-old members, including Kentucky Rep. Hal Rogers at 88, Washington, D.C., Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton at 89, and others. Notably, 84-year-old Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, returned to Congress the week of Grassley’s 93rd birthday, after a hiatus from Congress that left Americans speculating about McConnell’s health and mental acuity.

The average age of senators in the current 119th Congress session is 63.9, while the average age of members of the House of Representatives is 57.9, according to data published by Congress. The median American age is 39.4 years old, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which uses median – not average, or mean – to prevent outliers affecting population demographic data.

Eight in 10 Americans support a maximum age limit for officials in Congress, according to a May 2026 NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. The support for age limits spans ideological lines, with 78% of Democrats, 83% of Republicans, and 79% of independents in favor, according to the poll.

Grassley began serving as a U.S. senator from Iowa in 1981, putting the Iowa Republican at over 44 years in the office. He serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and to date is the sixth-longest-serving senator, with two years remaining in his current term, according to Senate data. As the most senior member of the majority party, he serves the role of president pro tempore of the Senate, which puts him third in the line of succession for the presidency – behind the vice president and the speaker of the House.

Around the halls of the U.S. Capitol, Grassley is known for his unique X posting style – using the digit “2” for anything with “to,” heavy abbreviations and frequent minor small personal life, football or official business updates – and the recently mourned loss of his trusty office vacuum “Beth,” (who is believed to have been in Congress for over 40 years). The Iowa senator’s love for Dairy Queen blizzards is also common knowledge in the nation’s capital.

“Gr8ful for my fellow Senator for Iowa who brings me my favorite Dairy Queen cake each yr,” Grassley posted on his birthday, accompanied by a photo of him in a Dairy Queen hoodie with Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst holding a cake.

Lawmakers making age history

In recent years, lawmakers’ ages have increasingly become an issue, with then-70-year-old President Donald Trump in his first term breaking the record for the oldest president to serve, then former President Joe Biden bumping Trump down for the title, finishing his term at 82 years and 2 months old. Trump, now 80, is set to reclaim the title before his current term ends, at a projected 82 years and 7 months, narrowly dethroning Biden.

Health concerns about McConnell have been the talk of Washington for months, after the senator has fallen in the Capitol and he was absent from Congress for months, prompting online speculation about his well-being. McConnell returned to Capitol Hill on Monday, Sept. 14, using a wheelchair, and has been voting this week.

Grassley’s age has not prevented him from carrying out his elected role. His office noted that on Sept. 16 – the day before his 93rd birthday – Grassley chaired a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, voted in the Agriculture Committee on the Farm Bill, held press calls with Iowa-based journalists, met with constituents visiting Capitol Hill and went to the Senate floor to vote.

“When he’s home in Iowa he travels the state holding Q&As with Iowans and keeps his followers updated on the farm’s progress,” a spokesperson from the office told USA TODAY in an email.

The senator hasn’t divulged whether he will run for reelection in 2028 for another six-year term. If he did, that would mean that in two years, at 95, he could be reelected. If he was, and completed his term, he’d be 101 – potentially dethroning the oldest-ever senator, former South Carolina Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond, who left office in 2003 at age 100.