There should be a maximum age limit to be a member of the government, especially a member of Congress. Right now, in order to be a representative you must be at least 30 years old, to be president you must be at least 35 years old, and to be a senator you must be at least 25 years old. It makes perfect sense for there to be a minimum age requirement and it makes just as much sense to have a maximum age limit as well to be apart of congress, to be president, and to hold any other government position. I propose that 70 should be the cut off age. A person can be voted in at 70 and they can complete their term but once that term is over they cannot run again due to surpassing the age limit. According to research, the most significant cognitive decline occurs after the age of 70 and the rate of decline accelerates after the age of 80. It is a danger and hindrance to the duties of the government to have people in office that are experiencing cognitive decline due to old age, as we’ve seen with the Biden administration.
I have a different point of view.
I don’t think the age is the thing that really matters. I think the thing that matter most is term limits. We associate old age with people who have been in politics forever. It’s very possible to have a sharp minded, experienced older person that is very capable of doing the job.
Do you think term limits eliminate the need to have a max age? What if at some time in the future age 100 is the new 70? The max age would then have to be re-adjusted?
I think term limits matter as well and should absolutely be a thing. But a maximum age should also be enforced. The same argument can be said for someone younger than 35 being president, many are mature enough to do so. But most are not. The same goes for people over the age of 70. I’m sure some may not experience significant cognitive decline but many do. And most surely do not operate at the same level they did in their 30’s/40’s or even as they did in their 60’s. For example, look at Diane Feinstein. She was 90 and still a member of congress and had been a member from 1992 until her death in 2023. Her case is an issue of term limits, as well as an issue of being too old to effectively serve in Congress. Or even look at Joe Biden. His cognitive decline is significant. He is 81 now and how he acts is significantly worse than how he acted when he was vice president for Obama.
If the future 100 is somehow the new 70 then the policy should be updated. But we are talking about now and the foreseeable future.
The age limits were about making sure people had sufficient life experience and knowledge to bring a sophisticated world view to the government. But, ultimately, the choice of vote is 100% on the voter.
Any exclusion due to age, on a haphazard guess of when someone loses their cognitive capacity, when the voter has a duty to make such judgements as they cast their vote, is missing the point. Voters, fully aware that Joe Biden was in cognitive decline, STILL voted FOR him, and that raises a far better argument for VOTER competency tests than age limitations. Voter competency tests will only be possible with a constitutional amendment. I personally, would trust any random 10 or 80 year old with a decision on American law, before I would listen to the view point of a Harvard or Yale Law professor on the need for our Constitution.
By the way, 70, and over, “year olds” have a knowledge of the 60s, 70s, and 80s that most current Americans view as part of ancient history. They actually lived it. The versions expressed on college campuses are completely false. The victors get to write history. But those lies are not well accepted until the people who lived it are dead.
I agree there also should be a cognitive test done to them from age 60 up as they serve in office, in the case of Congress woman Kay Granger, who was in a memory hospital for six months, no one said anything, this is disgusting, that she been missing that long and on one in the government said anything or tried to have her replaced. I am just wondering if the age limit should not be set at 65, which is that age we are aloud to retire, they should have the same thing but it be a mandatory age to retire.