After the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Speaker Mike Johnson, who was there along with the president and vice president, pointed out that had the suspect succeeded, Sen. Chuck Grassley “would have been in charge after that.”
Mr. Johnson was relying on the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, which places Mr. Grassley, 92 and the Senate’s president pro tempore, third in line to the presidency. His holding this position at an advanced age isn’t an anomaly. Senate tradition gives the president pro tem role to the majority-party member with the longest tenure in the chamber.