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A group of younger Democrats serving in Congress, as well as state and local governments, are pushing for committee leadership term limits in a new video shared first with Semafor.
“Some of the most powerful people in Washington would rather die in their committee chairs than admit they can’t do the job,” says the narrator in the three-minute video from Majority Democrats that slams a Democratic “gerontocracy.”
The video underscores Democrats’ ongoing frustrations over the age of many of their committee leaders, highlighting the late Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., who led the House Agriculture Committee and faced scrutiny over his health before being ousted in a challenge from a younger lawmaker.
The group of several dozen Democrats includes rising stars like Texas Senate nominee James Talarico, Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and Reps. Pat Ryan of New York and Joe Neguse of Colorado.
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Committee term limits have divided congressional Democrats, and attempts to impose them have come up short in previous years. The resistance comes in part from senior members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus, who have argued that imposing them would penalize members who faced barriers to advancing in Congress.
Republicans have imposed term limits on their committee leaders, which forces more churn among their ranks.
The group behind the video acknowledges that imposing term limits is controversial: “When the next generation has the audacity to challenge the status quo, they get sh*t for it,” the narrator says.
But with substantial turnover in Congress prompted by GOP-led redistricting — and amid a broader reckoning among Democrats about age, after President Joe Biden was forced off the presidential ticket — some Democrats are warming to the idea.
Several senior committee leaders faced challenges to their leadership from younger lawmakers last Congress, and other Democrats privately predict more challenges to come.