My ideological commitments make Senator Chuck Grassley my adversary for the most part. His vanguard role in reshaping the judicial branch to suit Donald Trump’s whims is, in my view, an act of arson that won’t be extinguished until long after he’s dead. The ugly stains on Grassley’s legacy will blot out the pages of the biography he cultivates: that of a wacky-but-folksy uncle who happens to have a job messing with the levers of American power.
Nonetheless, we should all mourn Grassley’s dearly departed Hoover Concept Two Electronic U3301-030 upright vacuum cleaner, Beth, which he tweeted about on August 8.
U willl see Beth no more See black that’s from electrical sparks. It’s not safe to use anymore. GOOD BYE BETH . U hv been a real workhorse. Ur namesake still is hard worker. I will miss u pic.twitter.com/Zu5dAtDyvZ
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) August 8, 2026
Do you have to hand it to Grassley overall? No. But if you can set aside most of his career, you do have to admire his commitment to a quality vacuum cleaner that vacuum archeologists place at about 42 years-old. According to the YouTube account Grayson’s Vacs and Mowers, the Concept Two was made in Canton, Ohio, and it looks like the A/C cord may have been a friction point that users liked to swap out.
Grassley stubbornly holding onto the original cord looks like it may have been Beth’s undoing, since from the looks of it, the power inlet on the vacuum itself stopped connecting properly, causing god-knows-what internal havoc that resulted in sparks and a charred outlet on the cord.
I’m not a handyman, just a guy who hates buying new stuff and likes to tape things together for way longer than I probably should. But I think Grassley is probably right about it not being safe to use Beth anymore—euthanasia is probably the only answer at this point.
Once a versatile appliance used (for a few seconds at the very least) by Grassley himself to clean up before Thanksgiving in 2023, it looks like Beth long ago lost her Help Mate, which was a Dustbuster-style attachment mounted on the body opposite the bag. There was just a yawning cavity in that spot when Grassley posted his 2023 video. But she still roared beautifully.
Beth + I are ready & working hard to prepare for Grassley family thxgiving at the farm She never lets me down & im grateful I can count on OLD FAITHFUL pic.twitter.com/keMfHZkqJk
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) November 22, 2023
I might be missing something, but I can’t find a record of Grassley’s commitment to vacuums, or to aging gadgets more broadly, in lists of his accomplishments. I don’t see Grassley’s name attached to the proposed Fair Repair Act, a possible federal right-to-repair law put forward at the start of this year by Democrat Representatives Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Joe Morelle, and Senator Ben Ray Luján.
Similarly, I haven’t noticed Grassley taking issue with a recent move by Donald Trump’s FCC that may soon make it impossible to buy new robot vacuums. They don’t make vacuums like the Hoover Concept Two anymore, and products from Chinese companies like Dreame and iRobot are today’s answer to Beth.
If you’re reading this, Senator Grassley, it’s not too late. There’s still time to reach across the aisle and do right by the millions of Americans who care deeply about vacuums and/or old junk. It’s what Beth would have wanted.
