The age and frail health of too many powerful leaders in Washington is a silent scandal.
The age and frail health of too many powerful leaders in Washington is a silent scandal.
T wice this summer, an ambulance was sent to the home of a U.S. senator. Former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been recovering from a fall since June and is finally expected to return to the Senate this week. In 2024, as she was leaving office, it became known that Texas Representative Kay Granger (R.), chairwoman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, had dementia and had lived in an assisted-care facility for the last six months of her term. She passed away last month at age 83. California Senator Dianne Feinstein (D.), chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee, was another sad example of someone who shouldn’t have served as long as she did: until her death at age 90, in 2023.
Everyone now knows that the White House covered up President Joe Biden’s mental decline starting perhaps as early as the day he was inaugurated in 2021. But it should also concern us that the average age of senators today is 64 years. In the House, meant to be the “people’s chamber,” the average age is 58. Members of Congress must disclose their financial interests and their stock trades. But nothing requires disclosures about their health or whether they can still do the job.
Growing public concern about aged leaders who refuse to leave the stage in dignity is exacerbated by a Congress that, seemingly frozen in a bygone era, lacks the experience to tackle modern problems. During recent hearings regarding the internet, for example, tech CEOs had to patiently explain to members of Congress how Wi-Fi works. The late Senator Orrin Hatch — who held office for 42 years — in 2018 questioned how Facebook could exist as a business without charging its customers. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s response? “We run ads.”
The current composition of Congress has become the best argument for term limits. Wax statues such as 86-year-old former House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D., S.C.) can no longer be seen as models of statesmanship. And the infirmities on public display might only be the tip of the iceberg. As I’ve noted before, the owner of Grubb’s Pharmacy in Washington, D.C., disclosed in 2017 that he regularly sends medication for various forms of dementia to Capitol Hill and has a contract with the congressional Office of the Attending Physician.
The widespread concern with having too many geriatric members of Congress is one reason that introducing term limits is a consistently popular reform idea. A poll fielded in April by PBS News and Marist found that 83 percent of respondents supported term limits, with majority support in all demographic groups. An overwhelming 78 percent of Democrats are pro-term limits. The same survey found that 80 percent of Americans also support an age cap on congressional candidates. Indeed, North Dakota voters passed a congressional age limit of 80 for their delegation.
The issue also concerns high government positions beyond Congress. In 2024, Americans were almost given a choice between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, who were 80 and 81 at the time. At the Supreme Court, five out of the nine justices are past normal retirement age.
There is a possible solution. In the 1990s, voters in 23 states successfully imposed term limits on their members of Congress. In 1995, the Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that states cannot unilaterally impose such limits. But many recent court cases have shown that even long-standing precedents — especially those that prevailed by a single vote — can be overturned.
The obvious obstacle to term limits is the refusal of Congress to limit itself. But the same kind of opposition to change had once blocked the popular drive for the direct election of U.S. senators. Then, in 1913, Congress was forced to end the practice of having state legislatures select senators. The clinching argument? Senators were grandfathered in, and none had to face voters before the end of their six-year term. It is extremely unhealthy for our republic to allow a popular idea such as congressional term limits to be held captive by members’ personal refusal to surrender power. It’s time to put country first.