Nikki Haley, a potential Republican presidential candidate, calls for competency tests for aging U.S. leaders, highlighting concerns about the fitness of senior politicians. She argues that a new generation of leaders is needed as the U.S. Senate’s median age continues to rise.
Haley Calls for a New Generation of Leaders
Haley, 51, a former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said that the United States needs a new generation of leaders amid the rising age of the U.S. Senators.
“The Senate is the most privileged nursing home in the country,” Haley told Fox News recently.
Baby boomers continue to dominate the U.S. Senate, with 66 senators from this generation.
Mitch McConnell’s Ailing Health
Recently, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell experienced difficulties during two press conferences. Although a doctor medically cleared McConnell for work, these incidents have raised concerns about his performance.
During a recent press event in Covington, Kentucky, McConnell, who suffered a concussion in March, could not answer questions, and the questions had to be repeated by staff.
“Not Fit for Office”
He later said that he plans to finish his term as the party leader and six-year term in office.
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene took to social media to express her view that McConnell is “not fit for office.”
“Severe aging health issues and/or mental health incompetence in our nation’s leaders MUST be addressed,” Greene said.
She also pointed out the age of President Biden, who is currently the oldest U.S. president at 80 years old.
Calls for Term Limits
Democratic Congressman Dean Phillips used social media to advocate for the implementation of term limits for members of Congress and justices on the Supreme Court.
“I mean, Mitch McConnell has done some great things and he deserves credit. But you have to know when to leave,” Haley said.
“I think that we do need mental competency tests for anyone over the age of 75, I wouldn’t care if they did them over the age of 50,” she told For News.
Watching Leaders Decline
“It’s sad,” she said. “No-one should feel good about seeing that any more than we should feel good about seeing [90-year-old California Senator] Dianne Feinstein, any more than we should feel good about a lot of what’s happening or seeing Joe Biden’s decline.”
According to the analysis of the 118th Congress published by the Pew Research Center, The House of Representatives got a bit younger after the last election, while the Senate’s median age continued to rise.
Doing the Math
The new Senate’s median age is 65.3 years, up from 64.8 in the 117th Congress and 63.6 in the 116th, the report says.
Meanwhile, the median age of House lawmakers is 57.9 years, down from 58.9 in the 117th Congress (2021-22), according to the analysis.
The House’s median age has dropped because newly elected, first-time members are primarily in their 40s or younger.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate Getting Older
Among the 73 newly elected representatives in the House who won their seats for the first time in the November 2022 midterms, 31 are in their 40s, 15 are in their 30s, and one, Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost from Florida, recently celebrated his 26th birthday in January.
The rest of the new legislators are in their 50s or 60s.
The Senate continues to get older even though the median age of the eight new senators in the 118th Congress is far below that of the chamber (49.4 vs. 65.3).
New Fresh Faces
Three of the new senators, all Republicans, are in their 40s, while another new Republican – J.D. Vance, who won the Ohio race last year – is in his 30s.
Three other new senators, including two Republicans and one Democrat, are in their 50s, while another new Democrat, Peter Welch of Vermont, is in his 70s.
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Source: BBC