Yesterday, November 6, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) finally threw in the towel and announced she will not run for Congress again, ending her 38-year tenure as a California representative. Mrs. Pelosi was first elected to the US House in 1987. At 85, she leaves an aging Congress not a moment too soon.
Rep. John Carter (R-TX) blew out 84 candles yesterday, and he’s not even the oldest member of Congress – not by a long shot. Is age just a number, or is it time for some of these geriatric lawmakers to call it quits?
Congress – The Eldest of the Ancient
Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who has served in the Senate since 1981, takes the brass ring as the eldest of the elders. He's 91. In the House, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is 88 and has been in office for 34 years – a remarkably long time to serve without even casting a single vote. Last month, Norton made headlines for being scammed out of $4,000. A DC police report obtained by a local television station described Norton as someone "in the early stages of dementia," a label her office vigorously denied.
Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) isn't far behind – he's 87. Rounding out our top four and no spring chicken is Pelosi, proving she can “take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’,” as the old Timex watch ad maintained. As we turn the final corner of 2025, a quick look in the rearview mirror reveals that eight members of Congress have passed away while in office since 2022. Oddly, all were Democrats.
Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), at 83, is not the oldest of senators but has suffered from poor health. Just a few weeks ago, the Kentucky senator hit the deck and had to be helped up from the floor of a US Capitol hallway. McConnell formally announced he would step down in 2026, ending four decades of service in the upper chamber.
It’s Not Just a Numbers Game
Statistics reveal that the average age of the 119th Congress is 58 and counting, with Democrats outpacing Republicans by one year. This means the average age of a congressional Republican is 58, while for Democrats, it is 59. The US House is younger than the Senate, with the lower chamber clocking in at an average age of 57 and the upper chamber just shy of 64.
Our culture consistently tells us that age is "just a number" and that "you are as old as you feel." Still, medical science informs us that growing older carries with it both diminishing physical and cognitive abilities – something not lost on most Americans after four long years of watching Joe Biden falter on the world stage.
Medical research on aging indicates that cognitive decline after age 75 has a wide arc. Some, like President Donald Trump, really are sharp as a tack, while others experience declines in memory and other critical thinking skills. Stanford neurologist Dr. Sharon Sha explained: “Although dementia is linked to age, it's not an inevitable part of getting older”; however, “… you can’t fight aging, as much as you want to.” Thus, some people fare better than others as the years pass.
Still, elderly lawmakers have their hands full trying to balance both cognitive and physical health-related issues while representing their constituency in Congress. Maintaining such a position of power may make it even more challenging to admit that someone younger could do the job just as well, if not better. Nevertheless, geriatric members of Congress have a responsibility to those who elected them to bow out sooner rather than later. As for Nancy Pelosi, she’s likely to become best known for being the first female speaker of the House, and for her adolescent antics when she ungraciously ripped up President Trump’s State of the Union message in 2020.
Upon hearing of Mrs. Pelosi’s decision to finally call it a day in Congress, President Trump told Fox News’s Peter Doocy, “The retirement of Nancy Pelosi is a great thing for America. She was evil, corrupt, and only focused on bad things for our country.”
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