McConnell’s freeze-up triggers more questions about aging politicians

The conversation about why our country’s leadership looks like the inside of a Perkins at 4pm is again sweeping the nation after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze up and stopped talking for a full 21 seconds during a press conference in DC this week.

McConnell and his aides say he’s fine and plans to serve the rest of his term. But the event—and other recent health scares from older politicians—add to the growing concern from other politicians and constituents regarding the age and mental fitness of elderly public servants. By 7pm on the day of 81-year-old McConnell’s incident, Google searches had quadrupled for the term “gerontocracy,” the word for a government controlled by old people.

Aging has no political party

McConnell, who has had multiple health problems in the past few years, might be in the spotlight now, but he’s only the fourth-oldest senator.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein is the oldest person in office right now. She has struggled with ongoing health problems, some that kept her away from work for an extended stretch and prompted calls for her resignation. This week, she had to be corrected twice during a hearing, once because she started giving remarks during roll call.

• An April Reuters poll found that 44% of registered Democrats think Joe Biden shouldn’t run for reelection because of his age—he’s 80 and the oldest president we’ve ever had.
• The same poll found 34% of Republicans think 77-year-old Donald Trump is too old to run for the highest office in the land.

Big picture: Members of Congress born before 1946 only account for about 6% of the entire governing body, which matches their share of the overall US population. But Capitol Hill is no nest of spring chickens: Baby Boomers (those born 1946–1964) make up nearly 49% of Congress compared to 21% of the US population. The average age of a member of Congress is 58 years old.