When Will the Democratic Party Get Real About Its Aging Politicians?
Replacing Democratic retirees with other older people is a shortsighted recipe for disaster
Last week, Senator Patrick Leahy, the Senate’s longest-serving Democrat, announced he is retiring after 47 years in office.
For those unfamiliar with Leahy, he is the other old White male Vermont senator not named Bernie. Leahy also has the distinct honor of being the sole member of Congress to have been featured in several Batman movies (five, for those curious). And earlier this year, the 80-year-old senator was briefly hospitalized mere hours after being sworn in to preside over the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.
At the time, his spokesperson said via statement that Leahy was “was not feeling well,” but failed to share any diagnosis or indicate whether Leahy’s condition had improved. The health scare prompted alarm given Democrats control the Senate chamber by a narrow 50–50 majority, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. Leahy’s status can’t be understated: President pro tempore of the Senate, he is constitutionally the second-highest-ranking Senate official after Harris, and third in the line of presidential succession behind Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
