WASHINGTON – While he was president Joe Biden is trying to assuage voters’ concerns about his age in a presidential race that also includes the two oldest men to ever seek the White House, a few miles away in the U.S. Senate, the gerontocracy remains alive and well — and little is being done responded to.
The recent news that two octogenarians – Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, 82, and Angus King of Maine, 80 — each running for another six-year term in office has drawn little criticism or age concerns like Biden has faced.
Their races, which both men are likely to win, are a reminder that the Senate roster is packed with lawmakers who remain in office at an age when most people are well into retirement. At the start of this Congress last year, the average age of elected officials was 64 in the Senate and 58 in the House of Representatives.
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“There is no shortage of substances here,” Senator Sen said. Peter WelchD-Vt., 77, said about octogenarians.
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader who brushed aside concerns about his health after experiencing two frostbites on camera last year, plans to step down from leadership at the end of this year. But McConnell, 82, has made no commitment to retire or run again when his term ends in 2027.
Age and health have received intense attention in the presidential race, as Biden and former President Donald Trump, 77 — the two oldest people to ever run for president — battle for the White House. (Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent candidate, has tried to portray his relative youth at age 70 as an advantage over the two.)
But in the Senate, a governing body with a club-like atmosphere that has been called the most exclusive retirement home in the world, seniority has long prevailed. Years in office bring committee chairmanships, influence and the ability to direct more federal dollars to the home state. Voters tend to appreciate that in their members of Congress — a contrast to how many of them view the aging of the presidency.
And historically, letting go at the height of their power can be difficult for elected officials who have almost never been in a better position to legislate on behalf of their constituents and who still feel like they have more to give.
“With seniority comes the ability to hold real leadership positions and do things that are really important to you and your state,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “You can do more the longer you are here, and that’s why people have to assess their own personal situation and their family situation.”
The Senate offers a wide range of examples of people aging at work. Some, like Sanders and King, maintain a vibrant constitution that belies their age.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the oldest current sitting senator, won reelection in 2022 at age 89 after campaigning with a video of him doing push-ups with a fellow Republican senator more than 40 years his junior . He is active on social media, where he often posts about his pre-dawn runs and ice cream at Dairy Queen.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, died last year at age 90 after a long and excruciating public decline as she faced pressure to resign early or retire.
Stabenow plans to retire this year at age 74, in part because she wants to spend more time with her 97-year-old mother.
“I felt it was time to pass the torch,” she said.
Grassley, now 90 and the longest-serving senator, said he decided to run for an eighth term in 2022 after consulting with his family, the encouragement of Iowans, given his health — “very good,” he said — and concluded that as a senior member of the Senate, he would be in a good position to advocate for his home state.
“It’s a personal decision,” he said of his contemporaries’ choice to run for office as octogenarians. “And as long as they think they can continue to serve, I think it benefits the Senate, given their institutional background.”
Sanders and King, both independents who align with Democrats and are popular at home, said they are up to the task and ready to continue delivering for their voters.
“I have been, and will be if re-elected, in a strong position to provide the relief Vermonters need in these difficult times,” Sanders said in announcing his bid for re-election.
Sanders, who would be 89 at the end of his next term, has significant power as chairman of the Senate Health Committee. He also serves on the Democratic leadership team and several other committees, including the Budget, Environment and Public Works and Veterans Affairs panels.
“Age is a factor. This also applies to experience; That includes seniority and the ability to deliver results for your state,” Sanders said in a brief interview at the Capitol, noting with characteristic grumpiness that he had “answered that about 300 times.”
“The most important thing people have to determine is: Does a candidate stand behind his values?” he said. “What are their positions on these issues? So if you have young people who want to cut Social Security and Medicare, give huge tax breaks to the rich and ignore climate change – well, that may be a generational change, but I don’t think it’s a big change.”
King borrowed a quip from Ronald Reagan when asked how age, if at all, played a role in his decision to run for a third term.
“I absolutely refuse to make the youth and inexperience of my opponents an issue,” he said.
“I feel great,” added King, who would be 86 at the end of another term. “Maybe there was a mistake on my birth certificate.”
Democrats defended the two independents’ decision to run for re-election, describing them as energetic and capable of continuing to serve.
“I no longer think the question is about chronological age,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii and a relatively young senator at 51, adding that Sanders and King could pass for 70. “It’s strength, intellect and energy – and they have both.”
“Aside from the fact that he has all the energy,” Welch, a Democrat, said of Sanders, “all the moral clarity he brought to politics as a young man is alive and well. He is very popular in Vermont. People are quite proud of him. And what I’ve seen is that people are very happy that he’s running for re-election.”
Still, a number of Sanders and King’s contemporaries have decided to hang up their hats this year.
Sen. Benjamin Cardin, 80, announced he would retire this year after serving 58 years in public office, despite saying he felt “great.” Cardin, who is celebrating his 60th wedding anniversary this year, joked that his wife had only had “two good years of marriage.”
“It’s time for me to consider other things in life,” said Cardin, D-Md., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Senator Thomas Carper, 77, said he wanted to retire “at the top of my game.” Carper, D-Del., is chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Senators from both parties argued that voters may view advanced age differently when it comes to their presidential candidates. The “visibility” of the role, Grassley argued, determines how voters perceive the issue in the race between Biden and Trump.
“Voters will respond to one person versus another depending on how they present themselves,” Welch said. “The presidency is obviously the most demanding job in the country, so that’s up to the people.”
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