The average age of members of Congress is 58. And the Senate is 64.
On paper that doesn’t seem that old. After all, President Donald Trump is 78 and former President Joe Biden was 82.
So in theory, elected officials on Capitol Hill should be in at least moderately good health, right?
Unfortunately, the trend lately is anything but that.
Just within the past month, a total of three senior lawmakers have suffered health scares that have caused injury and even hospitalization.
Incidents that have left many voters once again calling for term limits to ensure the health of their elected officials doesn’t impact their ability to serve.
Or, turning Capitol Hill in to proverbial nursing home.
The problem started early this year when former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s return to Congress needing a walker sparked widespread debate about aging leadership.
Career politician Pelosi, 84, appeared on the House floor during the joint session to certify the 2024 presidential election results, forced to use a walker following her December hip replacement surgery. The longtime California Democrat was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery after a fall during a congressional trip to Luxembourg on December 13.
Then, just last week former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell left the Capitol in a wheelchair on Wednesday. The 82-year-old lawmaker required emergency medical help after two dangerous falls.
McConnell first slipped on the three-step stairway leaving the Senate chamber following the Housing Secretary confirmation vote.
Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Markwayne Mullin, R-O.K., rushed to help McConnell up before he walked unassisted to the Mansfield Room for a scheduled Republican lunch meeting.
During lunch, McConnell fell again while “carrying a plate of food and landed on his side,” Punchbowl News reported.
And this week, long time Democratic Rep. John Larson, who inexplicably stopped speaking during a speech Monday on the House of Representatives floor, said Tuesday night he had suffered a complex partial seizure.
The 76-year-old Democrat, who is serving his 13th term, said the House attending physician referred him for further evaluation following the incident. The diagnosis was determined after a round of tests, according to a news release from Larson’s office.
People who experience such seizures, which can last 30 seconds to two minutes, can appear to be daydreaming or staring blankly.
The age debate on Capitol Hill also intensified late last year when Republican Rep. Kay Granger, 81, was found in a $4,000-per-month memory care facility. Granger had been missing from Congress for six months after she was discovered wandering lost in her neighborhood; she did not resign her seat.
For context, Congress is simply getting older. Congressional records show five lawmakers that are over 84 years old were sworn into Congress for the latest session.
Rep. Eleanor Norton is the oldest at 87, followed by Rep. Hal Rogers, also 87. Rep. Maxine Waters is 86, while Rep. Steny Hoyer is 85. Pelosi ranks fifth at 84.
And voters are taking notice.
One social media user even labeled the institution a “nursing home” in a post that quickly went viral.
But conservative columnist Benny Johnson perhaps summed it up best saying:
Mitch McConnell in a wheelchair.
Nancy Pelosi with a walker.
This is just sad.
Term limits are needed for the health and wellbeing of elected officials. pic.twitter.com/2V1lrp6WeW
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 6, 2025
To serve in Congress, House members must be at least 25 years old, while senators must be over 30. The standard U.S. retirement age is 65.
Even Pelosi herself advocated for term limits in 2023… but only for the Supreme Court, when she argued they would help hold justices “to account.”