OLD TIMERS IN THE CONGRESS ARE MOSTLY DEMOCRATS
"MOST of the old timers in Congress seem to be in the Democratic party ranks. Senator Chuck Grassley is 92 and will be 93 this September. Senator Bernie Sanders is 84 years old. Older Senators and Congress members come from both major parties but are mostly Democratic Party members, " says Eugene Delgaudio, age 71, president of Public Advocate.
The Silent Generation's ranks have dwindled from 39 members in 2021 to 24 in 2025, as Gen X and millennial politicians replace older lawmakers. Still, at least 13 have indicated plans to run for re-election, creating the possibility of this generation's holding on to seats into the next decade and reigniting a debate about how long is too long to serve in office............
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, who is running for re-election this fall, will be 83 on Election Day
In the House, Maxine Waters of California, the top Democrat on the powerful Financial Services Committee, who has served since 1991, will be 88 on Election Day; David Scott, D-Ga., the former chairman of the Agriculture Committee, who is also in a competitive primary, will be 81; and Doris Matsui of California, the top Democrat on a key Energy and Commerce subcommittee, will be 82.
Across the aisle, Rules Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who has served in the House since 2005, will be 83 on Election Day; Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., the dean of the House and a former Appropriations Committee chairman who continues to play a key role on that panel, will be 88; Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, another top appropriator, will be 84; and Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind., who was hospitalized after a car accident last week, will be 81.
All are running for new two-year terms in the House in November...........
Former House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., 85, who served alongside Pelosi and Hoyer in leadership for roughly two decades, in March announced he will run for re-election.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who is president pro tempore, third in line to the presidency, by virtue of being the longest-serving senator, hasn't said whether he will seek a ninth six-year term in 2028, when he would turn 95.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the liberal icon who caucuses with Democrats, isn't up for re-election until 2030, when he would turn 89. After he won re-election in 2024, he said this term was likely to be his last.
And Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent who also caucuses with Democrats, is also up for re-election in 2030, when he would turn 86.
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Chuck Grassley (R-IA): 92
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Bernie Sanders (I-VT): 84
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Mitch McConnell (R-KY): 83
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Jim Risch (R-ID): 82
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Angus King (I-ME): 81
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Dick Durbin (D-IL): 80
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Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): 79
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Ed Markey (D-MA): 79