Who?
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) — President pro tempore of the United States Senate
LISTEN: Laslo & Grassley
Ask a Pol asks:
Does this feel different than shutdowns in the past?
Key Grassley:
“No. They’re all the same,” Sen. Chuck Grassley exclusively tells Ask a Pol Politics. “They cost money to shut down. It costs money to open government up. Government’s supposed to be service for the American people. You can’t serve the American people if the government’s shut down.”
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Caught our ear:
But this time on the eve of the shutdown the House of Representatives isn’t even in session?
“Don’t ask me to go back 30 years to tell you when the House was in session,” Grassley tells us.*
Fair, fair, fair.
*according to last check on Wiki, Grassley’s 92 — and last check with the senior Senator from Iowa who got his start in Washington as a member of the House of Representatives, he’s still doing pushups and ploughing his own fields back home.
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Chuck Grassley (9-30-2025)
SCENE: Sen. Chuck Grassley and his large security detail are making their way through the basement of the US Capitol when Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo briefly catches the US Senate’s most senior member for this quick chat…
Matt Laslo: “Does this feel different than shutdowns in the past? Or the lead in to shutdowns in the past?”*
*asked on eve of shutdown…
Chuck Grassley: “No. They’re all the same.”
ML: “But, like, why?”
CG: “They cost money to shut down. It costs money to open government up.”
ML: “Yeah?”
CG: “Government’s supposed to be service for the American people.”
ML: “Yeah?”
CG: “You can’t serve the American people if the government’s shut down.”
ML: “Yeah?”
CG: “And it’s no different for the Democrats than the 13 times that they voted for a clean CR [Continuing Resolution] in the Biden administration.”
ML: “Yeah?”
CG: “So it’s no different.”
ML: “But here House — the House isn’t even in session?”
CG: “Well, I…”
ML: “Yeah?”
CG: “Don’t — don’t ask me to go back 30 years to tell you when the House was in session.”
Laslo laughs.
ML: “Fair, fair, fair.”
