Sen. Dianne Feinstein has died per a statement from her office, which did not give a cause. At 90, she was the oldest sitting member of the Senate, and alongside Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, age 81, who has experienced a number of health issues in recent months, Feinstein’s health called attention to the age and health of the legislature.
The average age of Congress is rising. That’s unlikely to change soon.
and
Updated September 29, 2023 at 12:43 p.m. EDT|Published July 27, 2023 at 3:57 p.m. EDT
On the whole, Congress is getting older.
The current class of lawmakers is one of the oldest in history, with an overall median age of 59. The median age of senators is 65, the highest on record. In the House, the median age has hovered between 57 and 58 for the past decade, higher than in any year before that period.
The 118th Congress is one of the oldest ever
Democrat
Republican
House
Senate
Feinstein was 90
when she died
Grassley
Napolitano
Silent generation
6% of Congress
McConnell
80
70
Baby Boomers
48%
60
50
Generation X
33%
40
Vance
Millennials
12%
Ossoff
Ocasio-
Cortez
30
Frost
Generation Z
<1%
Note: Data as of September 29. Count of Democratic
senators includes three independents who caucus with
Democrats.
Source: U.S. Congress
The 118th Congress is one of the oldest ever
Republican
Democrat
House
Senate
Grassley
Feinstein was 90 when she died
Silent generation
6% of Congress
Napolitano
Rogers
Sanders
McConnell
80
70
Baby Boomers
48%
60
50
Generation X
33%
Sinema
40
Vance
Millennials
12%
Ossoff
Ocasio-Cortez
30
Frost is the only Gen Z
member of Congress
Generation Z
<1%
Note: Data as of September 29. Count of Democratic senators includes three independents who caucus with Democrats.
Source: U.S. Congress
These numbers have steadily ticked up since the 2000s, even as the country elects younger members. The freshman class sworn in this year was the youngest in recent history, with 18 new lawmakers under 40 elected to both chambers.
But the older generations still dominate Congress, and debates about term limits, ageism, and the overall fitness of the gerontocracy to lead the nation have become a feature of American political discourse.
McConnell is the third-oldest senator and one of more than two-dozen members who come from the Silent Generation born between the late 1920s and the end of World War II.
Congress has long been older than the overall American population, and the nation’s median age is creeping up, too. But with baby boomers, the generation that came after McConnell’s and Feinstein’s, making up nearly half of Congress, it’s unlikely that the age balance among lawmakers will change significantly any time soon.
Millennials such as 39-year-old J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and 33-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) account for just 12 percent of lawmakers in the Capitol. And Gen Z is represented by a single member, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), who became the youngest member of this Congress and the first elected from his generation when he won his race in the district encompassing Orlando last fall.
