Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) doesn’t think 100 is too old to serve in Congress, as we reported last week.
Despite twice being duped by Russian comedians and regularly making little sense, the 87-year-old is hitting the campaign trial once again this year to seek a 19th term, which would have her serving 38 years in office.
And she’s not alone, as other members of Congress are showing advanced signs of senility and, in some cases, dementia — but remain determined to stay the course.
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.)
Florida Democrat Frederica Wilson, 83, has had a month-long, unexplained absence from Capitol Hill, where she has missed over 43 votes since mid-April and has been a total no-show on all her legislative committee work.
Wilson, a sassy senior known for dressing in pink cowboy getup, has been making increasingly unhinged remarks like demanding “an uprising where people are taking to the streets” over immigration enforcement and calls for citizens to phone Republican lawmakers with threats.
During her absence, Wilson’s social media accounts have shared recycled photos from last year, without disclosure, presumably to trick folks into thinking the lawmaker is well and active.
Following mounting media pressure, the congresswoman released a statement blaming “eye surgery” for her prolonged absence.
“When you get 75, 80 years old, we know 50% of people show mild cognitive impairment. They may look fine reading off a teleprompter or repeating canned phrases, but behind the scenes, they’re having what’s called ‘white matter decline’ in their brain,” Dr. Russell Surasky, a neurologist in Great Neck, NY, told The Post.
“They have a reduced ability to incorporate new information, which is obviously critical because that’s what Congress needs to do,” he added.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
According to a police report filed last year, nonvoting District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, 88, has “early signs of dementia.”
Norton fell victim to a scam when a group showed up at her DC home at a time the “caretaker/power of attorney was not at residence” pretending to be HVAC workers. The scammers charged over $4,000 to her credit card.
The oldest member of Congress, Norton, who recently tried to have a 19th-century slavery emancipation memorial torn down, has been described by friends and colleagues as “unable to function independently,” rarely in attendance for committee meetings, and appearing not to recognize people she has known for years, according to the New York Times.
Norton, who has denied accusations she has dementia, has been in Congress since 1991. She is seeking re-election this year.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
When Mitch McConnell, 84, first came to Washington in 1985, the Soviet Union was still intact and the pinnacle of consumer tech was the newly released Nintendo 8-bit home gaming system.
Like those old video games, McConnell now unexpectedly freezes up — except for him, it’s during public appearances. While speaking to reporters on Pentagon policy in July 2023, McConnell, after a reported concussion earlier that year, bizarrely stopped moving and gazed ahead, dead-eyed, for over 30 seconds.
The same apparent neural glitch happened a month later in a similar situation, and McConnell only snapped out of it after prodding from staff.
In 2025, he also required brief use of a wheelchair and the same year annouced that this term will be his last.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.)
Concerns over Maxine Waters’ incoherent rambling have led many to speculate the 87-year-old California Democrat may be a few fries short of a Happy Meal.
In 2017, a pair of Russian comedians were able to prank her into believing they were the prime minister of Ukraine and that Russia had “invaded Gabon” and was interfering in elections in the fictional country of “Limpopo.” Three years later, the same duo pulled the stunt again, pretending to be climate activist Greta Thunberg’s father, calling with urgent climate news about the made-up island of “Chongo-Chango.”
Earlier this year, the congresswoman antagonized Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a House Financial Services Committee hearing, repeatedly interrupting and at one point asking the committee chair, “Can you shut him up?”
Rep. John Carter (R-Texas)
Trump-endorsed 84-year-old incumbent Congressman John Carter of Texas has been described by primary challengers as “half dead,” “worse than Joe Biden,” and his ongoing presence in Washington has been likened to elder abuse by those calling for new blood in the seat.
Carter, this year running for his 13th term, holds the distinction of having among the most missed roll call votes this century in Congress (803) and appeared to struggle last week reading prepared remarks at a House subcommittee hearing.
“Pretending that this biology of aging stops when you get to the Capitol steps isn’t compassionate. It’s national malpractice,” Surasky said. “Seniority can’t be a senility shield. It’s endangering America because they refuse to pass the torch.”
Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.)
After flip-flopping on the question of retirement, Illinois Democrat Danny Davis, 84, finally announced last July he would step down next year, marking three decades in Congress. Also a record-holder on missed votes, Davis has made markedly fewer public appearances since his announcement and has increased reliance on aides, critics say.
“You become very dependent for your identity on what you do. And fear of decline is actually a type of fear of death,” University of Pittsburgh neurosurgeon Dr. Joseph Maroon, 85, told The Post.
“So your work is your life, or at least the source of your identity. When it declines, you’re in the process of dying, not only physically, but you’re dying emotionally and intellectually.”
Kevin Munger, author of “Generation Gap: Why the Baby Boomers Still Dominate American Politics and Culture,” told The Post that several factors came together to result in the Baby Boom generation’s outsized power and influence, including demographic, financial and advances in health care.
“We have the oldest Congress in [US] history, the oldest president in history and I think this is exacerbated by campaign finance. Some of the biggest donors are also older and they give older candidates bigger weight,” he said.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.)
At an anti-Elon Musk rally last year, Emanuel Cleaver, 81, left listeners scratching their heads after he struggled through a string of made-up words, telling the crowd to “take your musty mullyon and musky Moscow rights to the moon, you musty moo moo.”
The ordained minister became a meme in January 2021 when, leading the opening prayer for a new Congress, he strangely gendered the word “amen,” saying “amen and awoman,” despite the word translating from Hebrew as “so be it” without any gender markers.
The strange addition followed other bizarre comments about “dark spirits” in the Trump administration.
Cleaver has missed more than triple the median for current House members in roll call votes and has taken to conducting town halls via phone rather than showing up to his district in person. He’s seeking re-election to his 12th term this year.
Maroon, author of the book “Square One: A Simple Guide to a Balanced Life,” said that while seniors possess crystalized knowledge (aka wisdom), compared to the ambition and egoism of younger people, it’s common, particularly in politicians and professional athletes, to resist stepping away from the limelight.
“The crux of the matter is having the insight to realize that you’re transitioning into another phase,” he noted.
“But some of us trudge on regardless, trying to leave a legacy,” Maroon said.
