Proposed Law Would Give Cognitive Fitness Tests to Elderly U.S. Lawmakers

A recent New York Times feature highlighted just how bad the age problem is in Congress. When this new Congress convened in January, almost 120 of its members were age 70 or older, looking less like a collective of wise thought leaders and more like a proctologist’s waiting room.

The concern here is more than a matter of optics. There is growing worry that our leaders, and our government by extension, are being propped up and puppeted around by staffers who would rather you not know that the person you voted for is experiencing severe cognitive decline.

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington’s 3rd District, who seems to be the only one asking if everyone’s still got all their faculties, is proposing cognitive fitness tests for members of Congress. Think of it like a driver’s license vision test, but for people steering the country.

Last month, Perez pitched an amendment that would’ve required the Office of Congressional Conduct to assess whether lawmakers are cognitively capable of doing their jobs. The House Appropriations Committee responded with a resounding no, probably because it’s filled with members on the AARP mailing list.

Rep. Kay Granger, 81, was reportedly in a retirement home for the final months of her term, while still technically holding power. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s decline was on full display in the rare moments she was even seen in public. While in office, President Joe Biden sometimes looked like he had no idea where he was or what he was saying. Whenever Donald Trump speaks, you can almost see the tug-of-war between his ego and some age-related mental malady.

Perez’s proposal didn’t make it out of committee. She insists Americans are losing faith in a Congress run by overworked staffers and over-the-hill politicians.

Whether that accountability comes with cognitive testing, term limits, or some currently unknown third thing, one thing is abundantly clear: the brains of the Boomers (and even older people) running the country might be melting before our eyes, but their will to hold on to their positions of power is ironclad.