Concerns about the fitness of aging members of the Senate are once again in focus, this time centering on Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who has represented the state in the chamber since 1981 and leads the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel at the center of federal judicial nominations. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) spent 56 days in the hospital this year after a fall, followed by several more weeks recovering at home — and before that tumble, there had already been signs that led many to question whether McConnell was okay. Now another longtime lawmaker is prompting similar concerns.

According to a report by The Bulwark, Iowans are wondering what would happen if Grassley died in office — a question that, for a seat he has held for more than four decades, inevitably turns attention to who might seek it. Beyond conversations with those on the ground, the report also reveals details about the senator's well-being.

On Dec. 20, Grassley will become the second-oldest senator in history. The only one older was the late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), who retired at 100, five months before his death.

Signs of strain have accumulated since Grassley underwent hip surgery in 2023. The Bulwark described "missteps and embarrassments" of the kind "that often accompany old age."

Last year, headlines declared, "GOP Senator, 92, Gives Nonsensical Answer to Journo's Simple Question," after Grassley delivered a rambling reply to a reporter's straightforward question. Asked about Judge James Boasberg — who remains in a battle with the White House over his court orders being violated in 2025 — Grassley began commenting about having documents and information on the people who come before his Senate Judiciary Committee. He repeated the same statement twice before Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) stepped in.

Bulwark reporter Joe Perticone wrote that he spoke with a TV producer who recalled another awkward moment from a few years ago. When Grassley and his staff arrived for an interview, the senator began talking to his own staffer as if she were the reporter, rather than addressing the journalist or producer. "Following an uncomfortable pause, the staffer corrected Grassley and pointed him to the journalist," Perticone wrote.

A single incident does not make a crisis, but — as with President Donald Trump — a pattern of incidents becomes a theme. "The more frequently stories like this get passed around, the sooner an aging lawmaker starts to cause concerns among his colleagues. And perhaps just as importantly, these types of stories ring true to anyone who has watched a parent or grandparent struggle in their old age," Perticone wrote.

Gerry Keller, a local GOP activist in Mason City, told Perticone that he chatted with Grassley at an August barbecue. "I asked him if he was gonna run again," Keller said. "He said, 'I'm not gonna decide until after this election cycle's over.' But I don't know, I got a feeling he wants to run again." The seat will next appear on the ballot in 2028, leaving that deferred decision looming over questions about Grassley's political future.

The latest round of hearings featuring former special counsel Jack Smith offered another example. Grassley read his opening statement directly from his paper — hardly unusual — but he appeared to do the same with his questioning, and at one point caught himself before asking a question that made no sense given the previous answer. In May 2026, Grassley similarly stumbled while reading his statement at a Senate committee hearing.

The change is notable in a senator who once joked that he should read from scripts more often so he would get into less trouble. "I'm not in Hollywood, where you're given a script to read," Grassley told Politico in 2009. "You know, maybe that's what's wrong with me — I don't read off what my press secretary says."

Perticone also cited a recent NPR/PBS News/Marist poll showing that about 80 percent of Americans agree there should be an age limit for members of Congress — a rare point of public consensus that gives the questions swirling around Grassley, McConnell, and Trump a national backdrop as his Dec. 20 milestone approaches.