Time's up: The Democratic gerontocracy

The death of Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) last week robbed the party of its ranking member on the powerful House Oversight Committee

(Image credit: Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images)

By The Week US

published 2 June 2025

The Democrats' aging crisis isn't just about Joe Biden, said Jeet Heer in The Nation. Thanks to its insistence on keeping ailing political dinosaurs in office, "the Democratic Party is literally dying." The death of 75-year-old Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) last week robbed the party of its ranking member on the powerful House Oversight Committee—a position he was chosen for over 35-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) despite his recent esophageal cancer diagnosis. Connolly was the third House Democrat to die in 2025, which let House Republicans pass their Medicaid-gutting mega-bill despite two internal defections. Many other Democrats "didn't know when to quit," like California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died in office in 2023 at the age of 90. Today, 11 of the 14 House representatives over 80 belong to the party. Party insiders have "elevated seniority to a governing principle." The Democrats, unlike Republicans, have no term limits for committee roles, and many representatives of deep-blue districts presume theirs are lifetime appointments.

You wouldn't know it from Washington's current crop of elders, said Jack Butler in National Review, but there are "advantages that age can bring to politics." Older politicians often have "greater resistance to novelty and to political fads." Institutional knowledge creates better dealmakers. Race also factors in, said Russell Berman in The Atlantic. Some of the oldest House Democrats, including 84-year-old Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and 76-year-old Rep. Kweisi Mfume of Maryland, belong to the Congressional Black Caucus. They "have been some of the seniority system's biggest defenders," deeming it the only way to ensure minority lawmakers can advance to top positions.

"Less charitably," said the Washington Examiner in an editorial, "relying on seniority rewards loyalty and helps enforce party discipline." In a party with so many disconnected, competing interests and identities, "selecting by longevity" is "the most objective way to determine how power should be allocated" in Congress. Some younger Democrats are fighting back, said Michelle Cottle in The New York Times. The Democratic National Committee's 25-year-old vice chair, David Hogg, recently announced his independent political group will spend $20 million on primarying "out-of-touch" incumbents. The seniority-addicted Democratic establishment scoffed, but if it wants to stop bleeding seats and alienating voters, it needs to "get serious about its oldsters problem."