Senator Grassley, 87, says he has coronavirus

Posted by Marie Claire Gallonic | News agency

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, the longest-serving Republican senator and third in a series of presidential succession, said Tuesday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Grassley announced earlier Tuesday that he was under quarantine after being exposed to the virus and was awaiting test results. On Tuesday evening, he wrote on Twitter that he had tested positive.

Grassley wrote: “I have tested positive for coronavirus.” “I will follow my doctors’ orders / CDC guidelines and continue to be quarantined. Feeling good + I will continue working for the people of Iowa from home.”

Grassley said he’s looking forward to “resuming my regular schedule soon.”

The Iowa Republican, who was in the Senate and voted on Monday, did not say how he was exposed. His office said on Tuesday morning that he was not experiencing any symptoms.

Grassley is the interim president of the Senate, which means he presides over the Senate in the absence of Vice President Mike Pence and is third in the ranking to become president after Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The interim president is the senator in the majority party who has served the longest.

By losing votes on Tuesday, Grassley broke a 27-year streak of not missing a single vote in the Senate. According to his office, the last time he missed the vote was in 1993, when he was in Iowa helping with relief efforts after severe floods.

Grassley was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 1974 and then to the Senate in 1980. He is Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and is expected to become the first Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee when the new Senate session begins in January.