24 members of Congress are 80 or older. More than half are running for re-election.

WASHINGTON - Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 85, is heading for the exits after nearly four decades in Congress. So is her longtime deputy, Rep. Steny Hoyer, 86, and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, 83. But of the two dozen members of the Silent Generation now serving in the 119th Congress, more than half (13) have decided to run again in 2026, according to an NBC News analysis. In total, this Congress is the third-oldest in U.S. history , with an average age of 58.9 years at the start of this session one year ago. The median age in the U.S. is 39.1 . Among Congress’ 24 Silent Generation members (defined as those born from 1928 to 1945, from the start of the Great Depression to the end of World War II), the average age is 83.8. Most are Democrats. Sen. Chuck Grassley (92) is the oldest, and Rep. David Scott (80) is the youngest. Seven members of the cohort are 85 or older. By the end of this year, the average age will be nearly 85. Ten members will be that age or older, and three will be at or knocking on 90’s door. Even before Democrats pressured then-President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race over concerns about his age , voters had been calling for generational change in Washington. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that 82% of Republicans and 76% of Democrats back an age limit for federal elected officials. 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. “The average age of a Congress member is when most people are thinking about retiring. And we’ve seen so many examples of people who just wear out their welcome and stay in past their sell-by date,” said Nick Tomboulides, CEO of U.S. Term Limits, a nonpartisan group that backs a constitutional amendment to limit congressional terms. “We don’t think senility is really the problem. We think incumbency is the problem, and senility is the symptom,” he added. “Because when these incumbents can run effectively unopposed or under-opposed for so long, they really have no incentive to leave.” Power and influence Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, who is running for re-election this fall, will be 83 on Election Day and would be 89 years old at the end of that new six-year term. But he said he’s still enjoying the job, and his powerful position as chairman has put him at the center of the debate over Venezuela, Greenland and other global flash points - issues over which he regularly spars with reporters. “I don’t know what the Silent Generation is. I didn’t know that we...

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