Schumer vs Grassley: Who is the ultimate Senate matchmaker?

Capitol Hill isn’t exactly a romantic setting. Working there means getting used to a high-stress environment — like the speaker-less House that’s been in a whirlwind of chaos for the last two weeks — long hours and a lack of privacy, with halls swarming with reporters, lawmakers and members of the public.

But romance seems to be in the air for the staffers and aides working for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. The two senators are unmistakably busy passing laws and helping the country run, but they both moonlight as Cupid.

Jennifer Heins, Grassley’s chief of staff, married Nick Davis, a former legislative aide who now serves as the assistant attorney to the Iowa attorney general.

They met as interns in Grassley’s office in the spring of 2013. Fast forward four years, Davis goes to law school, Heins continues working on the Hill and they keep in touch. The long-distance friendship turned into a relationship.

The pair tied the knot in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Grassley was in attendance, alongside his wife Barbara Grassley.

The newly wedded Mrs. Davis told the Wall Street Journal that the Iowa senator is proud of all the couples that have found love in his office, and the senator reiterated the sentiment in a statement given to the Deseret News.

“It’s an honor to know that my office is where so many soulmates found each other,” he said.

Wondering how many couples found each other? Grassley, 90, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and revealed that the Davis’s are the 20th couple to marry after meeting in his office. He also posted pictures with the newlyweds.

Taylor Foy, communications director for the senator, told Deseret News, more weddings are already in the works.

“The first couple to meet in Sen. Grassley’s office and tie the knot actually met on his first campaign for the Senate in 1980,” said Foy. “And while Jen and Nick are the latest to exchange ‘I do’s,’ they won’t be the last, with future nuptials already on the calendar.”

Grassley has spent more than four decades in office, and earned the title of the oldest sitting senator after the passing of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

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His marriage has lasted even longer than his political career, perhaps as a testament to the wise relationship advice he gives his staffers.

“Barbara and I have been married for 69 years. We know the importance of a strong marriage,” Grassley said in a statement.

The Grassleys celebrated their wedding anniversary with a dinner at That Place restaurant in Conrad, Iowa, in late August. In an Instagram post, Grassley shared that the couple celebrated by eating the Iowa chop, a thicker version of a pork chop, and planned to watch the first presidential debate when they got home.

Sen. Chuck Schumer gives Sen. Chuck Grassley some competition

Although his track record is impressive, Grassley faces competition from Schumer, who was dubbed the “Yenta of the Senate” by The New York Times in 2012. At the time, more than 12 couples had gotten together at his office.

“There are two spins on all these Schumer marriages,” Schumer, 72, said on “CBS Sunday Morning” in 2015. “One is, we are the closest-knit staff on the Hill. The bad spin is, we work so hard that they don’t have a chance to meet anybody else.”

The latest count from 2016 tallies up 13 “Schumer marriages” and 14 “Schumer babies,” as a spokesperson from the senator’s office told The New York Times. His office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Working together towards a shared goal “can function as informal dating,” dating and relationship expert Gabriel Brenner told Business Insider. “Where people demonstrate their worthiness as a potential partner.”

Especially “since you’re communicating, cooperating, and sharing workload.”

When actress and singer Jennifer Lopez got engaged to former baseball player Alex Rodriguez in 2019, Schumer, who has been married to Iris Weinshall for 36 years, told a tabloid website that he wished them good luck but would not help the couple say their “I do’s.”

“I officiated one wedding,” Schumer said in a video. “They got divorced after 10 months. I’m never officiating a wedding again.”

Grassley, too, stays away from officiating weddings, but they have attended the wedding ceremonies over the years.

It’s tough to say who emerges as the ultimate matchmaker in the Senate since Schumer’s latest number on office marriages is missing. But what is certain is that both senators will continue to play cupid from the sidelines.

“Our staff is a family,” Schumer said in 2015. “I want them to be happy. I get worried that they’ll be lonely. So I encourage them. If I think it’s a good match, I try to gently — as gently as I can — nudge it.”