FILE PHOTO - Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) speaks with reporters regarding a stop-gap funding bill to avoid a federal government shutdown later this week on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 27, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Democratic U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had surgery on Monday to remove a tumor from his pancreas, according to a family statement posted on his Facebook page.

“His doctors caught the problem early during a routine screening and his surgeons are confident that the surgery was a success and that the prognosis for his recovery is good,” the statement said.

Reid, 78, represented Nevada in the U.S. Senate from 1987 to 2017 and was Senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015.

Reid is “in good spirits and resting with his family,” and will undergo chemotherapy following the surgery at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center in Baltimore, the statement said.

Senator Chuck Schumer, Reid’s successor as Senate Democratic leader, said in a Twitter post: “Spoken to family and it seems @SenatorReid’s operation went well. We are all praying for dear Harry’s speedy recovery.”

As Senate majority leader during the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama, Reid helped pass major legislation that included the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.

After Republicans took control of the Senate following elections in 2014, Reid served as minority leader from 2015 to his retirement in 2017.