I live in Nevada, which means that my state legislature is made up of citizen politicians. They are part time, meaning they only meet for half a year every other year, and they are paid a pittance for their trouble. Housing is not cheap and many have to make frequent flights to and from Las Vegas. This benefits retirees, and wealthier people seeking office. Retirees have the time and can make a little extra money, plus they can easily get the vote of retiree voters. The wealthier can take time off and survive getting paid very little. There are also term limits meaning that you can’t and won’t be making policy for very long.
Contrast this with the national congress, full time, paid well and they meet every year. The average age of our National congress is 57, three years younger than last year. I don’t have the official age for Nevada’s legislature but it is most definitely much younger.
Some of the oldest politicians in our history are still in office despite their advanced age. Dianne Feinstein is set to be in her 90s by the time she retires from office. This is absurd and needs to come to a screeching halt.
After Franklin Roosevelt died in office the 22nd amendment was passed limiting the amount of times someone could serve as President. A smart move but missing a critical component, an age limit.
We should not have Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John McCain, Diane Feinstein, or FDR. Take a peak of the longest serving congressmen in US history (here) a very common reason for “leaving,” is death.
Our representatives are sitting in office and holding on to power well past the point they should have retired. (John McCain especially since he had, let me remind you a brain tumor) Whether or not President Biden is experiencing cognitive decline will be up for debate till he dies or we get serious confirmation of his cognitive ability, and we shouldn’t be asking that question.
We shouldn’t have to ask that question. We shouldn’t be repeatedly setting records for how old our heads of state are because that raises serious concerns over their health and cognitive ability.
My argument is two pronged. The first is that advanced age may impact ones ability in a setting such as our national congress. The second is the length of time these people have served in congress. Many have them have been in politics and their current office for decades. Some of the longest serving, Chuck Grassley being the oldest and longest serving that’s still alive has been in Congress for 48 years. At what point do we as Americans admit that Chuck Grassley had a good run, and put him into retirement. His skills and ideas can be passed to younger congressmen with better and fresher ideas.
People often make comments that people retire around the age of 70 yet many of our elected officials are at that age or older. It should never be that way. Writing laws, voting on laws, and making informed decisions about the fate of this country is a serious task and should not be taken lightly.
There are argument against this, (I’ll link some here although this one is about term limits.) Institutional knowledge being one of them. Nothing is stopping one congressmen from reaching out to a former one or a more senior one for for help. Unless all the predecessors are dead or senile which might be the case.
We have records of meetings, votes, and laws for reference. Effective law makers and deal makers may be lost., but let me interject, Diane Feinstein (I’m picking on her because she is the oldest and finally retiring in 2024) was born in 1933 when the golden gate bridge started construction.
How effectively do you think she and other octogenarians can write policy about technology, AI, EVs, crypto, and other modern topics? Orren Hatch the oldest congressman one before her had been in office since the 70s throwing into question how well these politicians can represent their constituents, and the issues they care about.
Institutional knowledge can be retained and passed down. The fact this country is still around and functional proves that. Knowledge can and will be lost if all of our representatives die in office. Books can be written, and former members can be mentors or give their endorsement to new candidates.
There is precedent for this. According to Katie Couric Media the State Department asks foreign officials to retire after 65. The same holds with the Federal Aviation Administration. Our own government admits that there is a time to step down and let someone else take the reins. No knowledge is lost, no skills are lost and our government keeps going along.
A big and silly concern is ageism. Can we really tell if someone is fit to serve just based on their chronological age. Again, we understand when our grandparents retire, and take their time enjoying their golden years. Why must we act like 80 and 90 year old politicians are going to be just fine.
I bounce around from 65–70 with a hard cap at 70 for an official age limit. This would apply to the President, Vice President, Congress, and the Supreme Court. If your term would carry you past 70, get out. If you are on the Supreme Court and reach 70, that’s right, you guessed it, leave. I firmly believe that an upper age limit would help bring in fresh ideas and better representation for the American people than career politicians baiting Americans with the hope of fulfilled campaign promises and a brighter tomorrow.
My name is Michael Vincent Hawthorne, and I write for the Midnight Variety Hour. I’ve made a commitment to myself and you the reader to never use AI. Not for the writing, not for the images. Every word you read was written by an actual human and every image was sourced from the web or put together by me.