Is the US Government Turning Into Gerontocracy?

Age Limits on Congress & Presidents

Is U.S. government is turning into a “gerontocracy”

Are aging Congressman and woman and presidents a danger for seniors ?

Are seniors in trouble with an Aging president and Congress? Are those older people in office a sign that the U.S. government is turning into a “gerontocracy” that is giving younger generations short shrift? No – many older Americans are becoming worse off.

Experts in elder law have been following the legal treatment of older Americans for decades. One of us writes a leading elder law casebook, and we are co-authors of a book on aging that will be published in January 2027. Through our research, we have observed a series of federal policy changes that will make life harder for many Americans of modest means as they age and a sign that the U.S. government is turning into a gerontocracy”

Are Presidents over 75, themselves old, a threat to seniors?

As an 80 year old President how Trump has affected Seniors

An 80-year-old President Donald Trump’s administration affects seniors primarily through major federal policy, budget, and regulatory changes to healthcare and safety-net programs and questions about his personal cognitive fitness.

Association of Health Care Journalists +2

As an 81 year old President how Biden Affected seniors

Prominent allegations, investigative reports, and books have accused former President Joe Biden’s inner circle and medical staff of concealing signs of his cognitive and physical decline while he was in office. However, Biden, his family, and his spokespeople have repeatedly and strenuously denied these claims, maintaining that evidence of aging does not equal mental incapacity.

When Biden’s performance during the first 2024 presidential debate ignited a widespread political furor.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Joe_Biden%E2%80%93Donald_Trump_presidential_debate. He had to drop out because he was not mentally fit to run

He appointed Kamala Harris who lost to Trump. Her loss caused by Biden backing out of the race too late has resulted in Trump Administration targeting dozens of broader federal safety-net, health, and social programs that millions of older Americans rely on https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/46-programs-trump-wants-to-eliminate-according-to-his-proposed-budget another sign that the U.S. government is turning into a “gerontocracy”

What are aging Funding concerns under Trump?

• Funding Concerns: A major tax and spending package signed into law reduced certain tax revenues that help fund Social Security, which analysts warn could weaken the program’s long-term stability.
• Workforce Reductions: Immigration enforcement policies have decreased the number of immigrant workers paying into payroll taxes, further impacting program revenues and tightening the supply of paid home-care workers.]https://www.aarp.org/government-elections/budget-bill-older-americans/
• Older Americans Act Services Approval Delayed until recently
• Agency Reorganization: The Department of Health and Human Services reorganized agencies that manage the Older Americans Act (OAA), dividing coordinated services between different federal centers. [1]
• Flat Funding: Programs like Meals on Wheels and caregiver support have received flat funding during a period of inflation, https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2025/06/04/what-trumps-2026-budget-would-mean-for-older-adults/

Should There be Age Limits on Congress and Presidents–Let’s look at the demographics of the two bodies of Congress to explore the oldest members of Congress

The Oldest Members of the House of Representatives and Senate

Should There be Age Limits on Congress?At 88 years old, Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) is the oldest member of the House of Representatives. Rogers has served in Congress since 1981, making him one of Kentucky’s longest-serving members of Congress.

The next oldest members of Congress include:

• Del. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-D.C.) – 88 years old
• Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) – 87 years old
• Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) – 86 years old
• Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) – 85 years old
• Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) – 85 years old

• The Oldest Members of the Senate
• At 92 years old, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa)  is currently the oldest senator and the oldest member of Congress by age. First elected in 1980, Senator Grassley is the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, overtaking the record of Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) in 2023. Grassley is also the 6th-longest-running Senator of all time.
• Previously, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was the oldest senator before her death in September 2023.
• The next oldest members of the Senate include:
• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) – 84 years old
• Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) – 83 years old
• Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) – 82 years old
• Sen. Angus King (I-ME) – 81 years old
• Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) – 81 years old

As the 119th Congress returns from recess the nation’s aging political class is once again under renewed scrutiny

Questions about the age of U.S. leaders arrive on the heels of the news of U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden death. His passing — the sixth such instance of a member of Congress over age of 65 to have died during this term alone, according to the legislative news service Congressional Quarterly

It also followed weeks of speculation over the health of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is 84, after he had been absent from Congress for over a month. 

McConnell broke his silence this week, noting he suffered a health scare in which he was “briefly unconscious” and citing the “vulnerability that comes with growing older” as the reason he wasn’t forthcoming, he said in a social media post this week. Since both Aging Presidents and Congress show us that US Government turning in to gerontocracy

Find out more about Cathy Cress, MSW, at her website

ABOUT CATHY Cathy Cress holds an MSW in Aging from UC Berkeley. Her book, Handbook of Geriatric Care Management, published by Jones and Bartlett, is the Bible of geriatric care … Continue reading About us

Find out more about Cathy Cress, MSW, at her website