Coronavirus: Senator Chuck Grassley, third in line to US presidency, tests positive
- Iowa lawmaker, 87, says he is ‘feeling good’ and continuing to quarantine
- Grassley broke 27-year streak of not missing a single Senate vote
Senior US Senator Chuck Grassley, 87, tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, the latest of some two dozen American lawmakers who have contracted Covid-19 this year as the pandemic surges nationwide.
“I’ve tested positive for coronavirus. I’ll b following my doctors’ orders/CDC guidelines & continue to quarantine,” tweeted the Iowa Republican, who is the second-oldest senator in the 100-member chamber.
Grassley is also president pro tempore of the US Senate, which makes him third in line to the presidency, after the vice-president and the speaker of the House of Representatives.
He is the second senator to isolate this week, after Florida’s Rick Scott entered quarantine for coming into contact with someone who later tested positive for the virus.
Scott has tested negative but remains at home.
Multiple lawmakers tested positive before returning to Washington for a November session, including 87-year-old Republican congressman Don Young of Alaska, the oldest House member.
Congresswoman Cheri Bustos and House Republican Tim Walberg have tested positive in recent days.
By entering quarantine under government health guidelines, Grassley was unable to vote on the floor, which brought his record of 27 years without missing a single Senate roll call to a halt.