America's Politicians Are Old. Let's Talk About It.

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Broaching the subject of the advanced age of a member of Congress is still considered unseemly. But the issue has become unavoidable over the past year, especially after Democrats’ unprecedented efforts to pressure then 81-year-old President Joe Biden to drop out as the party’s presidential nominee, after he appeared bewildered during his June debate with Trump. In March this year, a local news outlet discovered Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), now 82, living in a memory care facility, having slipped away from Congress without much notice. And of course, until her death in 2023, the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) descended into dementia in full view of the country.

“There’s no question that somewhere between six and a dozen of my colleagues are at a point where they’re … I think they don’t have the faculties to do their job,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) recently told Politico.

The gerontocracy is spurring some younger activists to action. California Democrats will consider a resolution, introduced by a 36-year-old party member, to explore setting a mandatory retirement age for state candidates at the party’s convention later this month. David Hogg, a 25-year-old vice chair at the Democratic National Committee, recently announced plans to raise $20 million through an outside group to fund primary challenges against some of the party’s oldest members.

Those efforts, however, may be too late to save the District of Columbia.

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