Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) is not ruling out another run for the U.S. Senate in 2028, even though the longtime Iowa Republican would be 95 years old by the time his current term ends.
Grassley, who was 91 at the time of the remarks, told reporters in August 2025 that he would make a decision later.
“Ask me the question in a couple of years,” Grassley said.
He said the decision would come down to the same factors he has considered during previous re-election campaigns.
Those include family considerations and whether he still believes he can do the job.
Grassley has already filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission for the 2028 election.
That filing, however, does not necessarily mean he has decided to seek another term.
The Iowa Republican has spent more than four decades in the Senate and more than half a century in Congress overall.
Grassley was first elected to the U.S. House in 1974 and served there from 1975 until 1981.
He then moved to the Senate, where he has remained ever since.
At the time of the report, Grassley had served 44 years in the Senate and ranked as the sixth-longest-serving senator in U.S. history.
Former Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia holds the record with 51 years in the chamber.
Grassley won an eighth Senate term in 2022.
He defeated Democratic challenger Michael Franken with approximately 56% of the vote.
Although Grassley won comfortably, the margin was smaller than many of his previous victories.
His current term runs through 2028.
Grassley also holds several powerful positions in Washington.
He serves as president pro tempore of the Senate and as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Those positions have kept him at the center of major battles over judicial nominations and Senate procedure.
At the time of the report, Grassley was also involved in a public dispute with President Donald Trump over the Judiciary Committee’s long-standing “blue slip” practice.
The tradition allows senators to effectively block certain judicial nominees who would serve in their home states.
Trump had repeatedly criticized the system and accused Grassley of allowing senators to interfere with his judicial appointments.
The president also claimed on social media that he had helped secure Grassley’s previous re-election.
Trump said he planned to challenge the century-old blue slip practice.
Grassley, however, defended it.
He argued that Republicans benefited from the same system during the Biden administration.
According to Grassley, blue slips helped Republicans keep dozens of liberal judicial nominees off the federal bench.
He argued that those vacancies could instead be filled by conservative judges under Trump, per Iowa Capital Dispatch.
The disagreement highlighted Grassley’s willingness to defend Senate traditions even when facing pressure from a president of his own party.
As for 2028, Grassley is keeping his options open.
He has not announced another campaign, but he has also made clear that retirement is not yet a settled decision.
For now, the longest-serving current senator is leaving the possibility of a ninth term on the table.
