Washington’s Gerontocracy Faces Its Curtain Call

The U.S. government is on the precipice of a changing of the guard, as a new generation of leaders and operators prepare to take power in Washington while the country’s eldest politicos exit stage left.

Of course, the generational change is happening even as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to reclaim his position as the oldest president to enter office on January 20, 2025. Trump first earned the title when he took office in 2017 at 70. President Joe Biden beat Trump’s record in 2020 when he was sworn in at 78. When next month’s inauguration rolls around, Trump will be five months older than Biden was when he was sworn in.

But don’t let Trump’s senior status fool you. His incoming administration include a string of relative youngsters who will be setting their own records when they sweep into power next year.

At 40, JD Vance will be the third-youngest vice president. Karoline Leavitt will become the youngest press secretary in U.S. history, at just 27. And the “big four” of Trump’s cabinet—secretary of state, defense secretary, attorney general and treasury secretary—if confirmed, will have the youngest average age of the last five administrations at 54. (The average age of the “big four” during the administrations of Biden, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and even Trump’s first term was somewhere in their 60s. Barack Obama’s top cabinet officials averaged roughly 57 years of age.)

“As a certifiable ‘Boomer,’ from squarely in the center of that cohort’s time span, it hurts a bit to see my peers fading from the political scene,” Barbara Perry, presidential historian and J. Wilson Newman professor of governance at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, told Newsweek.

“But as President Kennedy declared in his inaugural address: ‘The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans…’ Except for the president-elect who hails from the very first year of the post-WW II Baby Boom.”

Over the last decade or so, the federal government has earned a reputation as being something of a gerontocracy, with power concentrated among a group of elders significantly older than the majority of the adult population. Decisions from aging officeholders of both parties to hold onto their posts has drawn scrutiny in recent years and raised questions about whether they have the mental acuity or fresh ideas needed to lead the country.

The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the late Senator Dianne Feinstein both faced calls to resign in their final years. Ginsberg, who died at 87, and Feinstein, who died at 90, were still serving in their positions up until the time of their death. Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in history, also drew controversy after the then 81-year-old froze in multiple public appearances last year that prompted concerns of cognitive decline. Seven months later, he announced he would step down from his leadership role.

But it was not until an early summer night in Atlanta that the national conversation about age reached a tipping point. When Joe Biden and Donald Trump stepped onto the CNN debate stage that night, a wary electorate was being asked — again — to choose between two senior citizens for the most powerful job in the world, either of whom would become the oldest president to date.

The reason Biden eventually stepped aside as the Democratic nominee and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris — a relative youngster at 60 — to take his place was because his debate performance was so disastrous, Americans were concerned if he had the mental fitness to run for reelection, nevermind serve another four-year term.

“When Trump and Biden were the two lead candidates for president in 2024, complaints about their advanced ages and the need for younger replacements proliferated,” Perry said.

It wasn’t just the top of the ticket that was growing old. The questions raised by Ginsberg, Feinstein and McConnell were reflective of a calcified gerontocracy in nearly all branches of government. The current House, with an average age of 58, is the third oldest in history. The current Senate, with an average age of 64, is the second oldest. And more than half of the nine justices on the Supreme Court are nearing or above the retirement age.

But that is all changing. The average age of the incoming Congress, in both chambers and parties, will drop a decade from what it was in 2021. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is 54, is a notably younger face than his predecessor Nancy Pelosi, who was 80 when the 117th Congress began. Senator John Thune, who will succeed McConnell, is also 14 years younger than McConnell was in 2021.

The Supreme Court’s oldest members, Justice Clarence Thomas, 76, and Justice Samuel Alito, 74, might decide to retire over the next four years so that Trump can appoint conservative successors to the bench who would likely be much younger. (Trump’s three Supreme Court appointments during his first term, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, were between the ages of 48 and 53 when they were confirmed.)

“All worldly things eventually pass away, even Baby Boomers running the U.S. government,” Steve Schier, a political scientist and analyst, told Newsweek. “They are rapidly disappearing as Gen Xers and even Gen Zers ascend to positions of power in Congress and the executive branch.”

“Just as Joe Biden initially claimed his presidency was a ‘transition’ presidency, so must 78-year-old Donald Trump’s presidency be,” Schier said.

“To understand the future of U.S. politics, follow the jousting of figures like VP JD Vance and Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both quite junior to Trump.”

There are also signs of a changing of the guard at lower levels of Congress.

In the past two weeks, two Democratic committee leaders have announced that they won’t seek to keep their posts, following challenges from younger colleagues and despite the party’s long history of following a seniority system that doesn’t have term limits on these positions.

Representative Raul Grijalva, who is 76, will step down from heading the Natural Resources Committee, while Representative Jerry Nadler, who is 77, will bow away from leading the influential Judiciary Committee that he’s headed for nearly a decade. Grijalva was facing challenges from 60-year-old Representative Jared Huffman and 45-year-old Representative Melanie Stansbury, while 61-year-old Representative Jamie Raskin announced plans to succeed Nadler.

With Raskin eyeing a new seat, the House Oversight Committee will need a new ranking member. Among the names that have been floated are Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who, at 35, would be the youngest committee leader.

In the Senate, Democrats will still be led by two of its older members, 74-year-old Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and 80-year-old Democratic whip Dick Durbin. But they’ve handpicked younger Democrats to fill the No. 3 and No. 4 positions, choosing 64-year-old Senator Amy Klobuchar and 55-year-old Cory Booker, respectively.

And despite a bruising loss in November that the party is still nursing, Democrats have a number of high-profile leaders to choose from come 2028.

In addition to Ocasio-Cortez, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (53), California Governor Gavin Newsom (57), Maryland Governor Wes Moore (46) and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (42) have all been floated as potential presidential candidates.

With Trump term limited, the top contenders to run on the GOP ticket would likely include Vance and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (46).

Before then, though, Democratic strategist Robert Creamer, said the emergence of younger talent at all levels of government will give the country a much-needed injection of new voices that reflect the roughly 200 million Americans born after the last of the Boomers. He pointed to the Florida Democrat Max Frost, who was elected to represent his congressional district at 25, making him the first Gen Z member of Congress.

But in Washington, Creamer said, age is relative.

“Let’s remember that Joe Biden was one of the youngest members ever elected to the Senate when he was first elected — barely crossing the constitutional hurdle of 30 years old,” Creamer said.