Written by Nate Firetag, Staff Writer
Monday, September 2026. Republican senator Mitch McConnell, age 84, returned to the senate floor after three-months of absence. This absence led critics to believe that McConnell, who has had a history of health problems, was secretly dead.
This is not the first rumor regarding the Kentuckian’s health. In 2023 it was speculated that he had suffered from a stroke on camera after freezing during a press conference.
Our current congress, the 119th, has suffered six deaths in 2026. This includes influential figures such as Lindsey Graham.
According to a recent Ballotpedia poll, the average age of a representative in congress is 57 and the average age of a senator, 64 (the oldest being the ninety-three year old Chuck Grassley who is also president pro-tempore of the senate.)
In comparison, the average American is 39.4 years old. This, plus the recent controversies regarding McConnell and Lindsey, has brought up questions about age limits in congress.
If our congress, which is supposed to represent us, is nearly two decades older than their average constituent, are they really representative of the United States? Poly Spotlight met with two students with opposing views on this issue, Lyle Weems (12) and Zander Hix (12).
When asked if she supports age limits, Weems said, “We should definitely have age limits. At a certain point, they [older congressmen] become unable to accurately represent us. Plus, it’s possible that some of these older congressmen are being manipulated. I think that’s what happened to Feinstein three years ago and what’s happening to McConnell now.”
Hix answered the same question, “Age limits shouldn’t be the priority. We should instead focus on term limits. There are people above our arbitrary age limits that can still serve the will of the people.” When asked for an example he said, “Chuck Grassley is like 94 and he’s pretty much coherent…”
“And I guess Bernie Sanders, but I went with the more controversial option first.”
Both parties were asked to respond to their opponents’ points. Hix said, “You can’t make blanket statements about people over a certain age. It’s ageist.”
Weems responded, “Honestly, there shouldn’t be anyone over seventy in the government. Period.”
Poly Spotlight surveyed 40 Poly students. 91% of Poly Students agree that we need age limits in congress. Out of this 91%, 67% considered themselves left leaning, 40% right leaning, and 27% moderate.
Spotlight reached out to Poly’s conservatives. Club America, formerly Turning Point USA (a conservative youth political organization), president Kate Mueller (11) agrees that we need “age limits on those who are running our government.” She agrees with Weems, even though Weems positions herself on the left.
Young people, conservatives and progressives alike, overwhelmingly agree that we must have age limits in our government.