Jessica Wang

Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell have served in the highest political offices. They are all over the age of 75.

Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell have served in the highest political offices. They are all over the age of 75. Each of them have struggled with their age at times with Biden’s gaffes, Trump’s flubs and McConnell’s health episodes. Currently in the 118th Congress, the average age of representatives in the House is 57.9 years old while the Senate rises to 65.3 years. As politicians continue to age, the United States faces an issue of a disconnect between constituents and their representatives.

Recently, California senator Dianne Feinstein faced complications with shingles for months before dying in September at age 89. Her inability to be present in Congress and her refusal to resign from her position prevented Democrats from pushing through the nominations of 12 justices. Constituents elected her with the expectation that she would represent them by actively advocating for legislation and voting for policies on their behalf, but it is difficult to do these things when hospitalized. 

Though earlier in her career, Feinstein pioneered a path for women in the Senate and spearheaded climate change legislation, past accomplishments do not account for an inability to complete basic duties of a representative. We cannot allow respect and admiration for someone’s prior accomplishments to stall the action of today. A representative unable to complete their duties and represent their constituents should not be allowed to serve in Congress. 

For voters, Dianne Feinstein represented a trusted incumbent with 30 years of experience. Voters value past accomplishments and how they offer proof on how a representative will lead; they reelected 95% of incumbents in 2020. However, failing health or a decline in mental faculties should overrule the experience an incumbent offers. Politicians themselves refuse to believe others are more qualified to lead. Instead they vaguely skim over health conditions, evidenced by McConnell’s lackluster response to his freezes. 

In the U.S., the retirement age is 61. There are currently 66 senators and 192 out of 435 house members past that age. Cognitive decline increases as people age into their 60s and 70s, calling into question the mental faculties of these politicians and their ability to lead. 

Furthermore, in this world of expanding AI, older generations tend to find it difficult to grasp far reaching consequences of technology. A striking example was Congress’s questioning of Google CEO Sundar Pichai in 2018, where he had to explain why searching “idiot” returned images of Trump. This basic question reveals a deep lack of understanding of the Internet and technology. If elected officials do not understand or cannot even use new technology, how can they effectively regulate it? As AI continues to develop and rapidly grow, a lack of a quick and effective government response in the present will hold negative implications for the future.

Older politicians also tend to introduce more legislation centered around their own concerns like prescription drugs or long-term care. For younger generations, the impact of those bills are diminished. Even though younger generations care more for issues like climate change, the older population tends to deprioritize the effects of global warming, indicating a discrepancy of viewpoints. Thus, an aging Congress cannot truly serve the youth of America. 

A country’s future should be decided by the people who will be around to experience it. Without greater representation in Congress for younger generations, we cannot push for issues that will affect us. Thus, we need to foster a greater open-mindedness surrounding electing nonincumbents, valuing merit over experience and pushing younger generations to run for candidacy in order to create a congress that more fairly represents its constituents.