The US Capitol, home of Congress, where the average age of lawmakers is among the highest in modern American history
TOI correspondent from Washington: Mystery surrounds the health condition of powerful US Senator Mitch McConnell, whose prolonged absence from the Senate after his hospitalization has revived an old joke in Washington once again: that the US Senate is not so much a legislative chamber as a community of retired elites still capable of shaking the world.
While firebrand politicians like Laura Loomer are already declaring McConnell, 84, “brain dead” even before he is loaded onto an ambulance stretcher this week for another round of hospital treatment, his current condition has prompted another round of nationwide soul-searching about a strange feature of American democracy: The world’s most powerful legislature is also one of the oldest. The average age of US Senators in the current Congress is 64 years. More than half of the senators are older than 65, and a quarter of them are older than 75.
The average age of Congress (Senate + House) as a whole is about 59 years, which is among the highest in modern history. In most workplaces, 65 is the retirement age; In the Senate, it’s practically an internship. The room still includes Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, who at 92 is old enough to remember World War II. Socialist Bernie Sanders is 84 years old, Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin is 81 years old, as are Idaho Republican Jim Risch and Maine independent Angus King 82 years old.
The Senate had long been ruled by men who treated their offices like hereditary property. Strom Thurmond, who ran for president on the pro-segregation Dixiecrat ticket in 1948, served in the 1990s until age 100; Robert Byrd remained in office until his death at the age of 92, and Jesse Helms retired at the age of 80 after three decades on the council. Ted Kennedy was 77 when he died in office after a half-century in the Senate. Washington folklore has it that senators usually achieve a state of political permanence and eventually become part of the structure.
The phenomenon extends beyond the Senate. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 86 years old and remains one of the most influential figures in the Democratic Party. President Trump is now 80 years old, and upon returning to the White House, he becomes the oldest person ever sworn in as President of the United States. President Biden left office at the age of 83 after beset by persistent questions about age and stamina. Then there is the Supreme Court, whose members have life terms and thus have every incentive to think in geologic rather than electoral time.
Justice Clarence Thomas is 78, Justice Samuel Alito is 76, and Sonia Sotomayor is 72. Chief Justice John Roberts is 71 years old. The average age of the current court is the late sixties. However, unlike senators, justices do not face re-election and voters do not periodically wonder whether they can still walk up the stairs before hearing arguments. In comparison, the average age of Supreme Court judges in India is about 60 years, because they are usually appointed at the age of close to sixty, and Article 124 of the Constitution requires them to retire at the age of 65 years.Overall, America’s ruling institutions have become increasingly like a family reunion as everyone remembers where they were when Kennedy was assassinated. For a country that celebrates youth in almost every other area, the United States seems strangely comfortable attributing enormous political power to leaders who qualify for senior discounts and assisted living. It is difficult to overlook the contrast with much of Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron is 48 years old, incoming British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is 56 years old, and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni is 49 years old.
In recent years, Finland’s leaders have had prime ministers in their 30s, and Iceland and the Netherlands currently have leaders under 40. European politics has its share of elder statesmen, but the upper levels of government generally look more like a board meeting than a gathering of World War II veterans.
Political scientists say there are structural reasons behind America’s aging system. Seniority is highly valued in Congress because it translates into committee chairs, fundraising prowess, institutional memory, and influence.
Incumbents also enjoy enormous electoral advantages, making it difficult for younger challengers to advance. Many lawmakers say experience is an asset. McConnell himself spent decades perfecting Senate procedures with the precision of a constitutional watchmaker, Grassley remains an indefatigable overseer of government agencies, and Byrd was revered as a walking encyclopedia of Senate rules.But elderly lawmakers’ recurring health concerns have also raised uncomfortable questions.
When elected officials become ill or disappear from public view, voters inevitably wonder whether their representatives are still capable of carrying out the difficult responsibilities of the office. McConnell’s current absence has once again highlighted these questions. The Senate likes to call itself “the greatest deliberative body in the world.” Critics have another description in mind: the most important assisted living facility in the world, where experience is abundant, wisdom is often abundant, and retirement remains the one bipartisan idea that never dies.
