Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) talks with reporters as he heads for a meeting at the Capitol October 02, 2018 in Washington, DC.

A key Republican senator sounded a dim note Wednesday about the House's chances of passing President Donald Trump's North American trade deal replacement this year.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Senate Finance Committee chairman who represents the major agricultural state of Iowa, said the Democratic-held House "seems to have no sense of urgency" to approve the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The GOP lawmaker contended the chamber "looks increasingly less likely to act this year" on ratifying the White House's replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"That threatens passage of the trilateral deal this Congress, as next year is a presidential election year," Grassley said.

Grassley's comments come amid increasing Republican pressure on Democrats to approve the trade agreement, one of the GOP's top economic and political goals ahead of the 2020 elections. Both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have publicly called on the House to pass USMCA this week.

Trump tweeted Tuesday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is "taking too long" to approve the deal. Along with Grassley, several other GOP senators took to the chamber's floor Wednesday to push for the agreement's passage.