Democratic Washington Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez\u2019s push to confront cognitive decline in Congress is finding rare common ground among liberals and conservatives frustrated with Washington\u2019s aging political class.
\n\u201cIn every job I\u2019ve ever had, there\u2019s a simple expectation,\u201d the congresswoman said in a video posted to X on Monday. \u201cYou actually have to be able to do the work. Either you can do it or you can\u2019t. And Congress shouldn\u2019t be any different.\u201d
\nGluesenkamp Perez proposed an amendment to the FY27 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill in May that would have required \u201cthe Office of Congressional Conduct to develop a standard for what constitutes conduct that does not reflect creditably upon the House, as it relates to a member of Congress\u2019 ability to perform the duties of office unimpeded by significant irreversible cognitive impairment.\u201d The amendment was ultimately rejected by voice vote.
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The congresswoman maintains that the fight to rein in what she calls the \u201cgerontocracy,\u201d a term meaning rule by the elderly, is not over. Reactions on social media indicate that she may have allies on the other side of the aisle.
\n\u201cI agree with her, again,\u201d Daniel Miressi, a Republican running to represent Connecticut\u2019s 4th Congressional District, said in response to Gluesenkamp Perez\u2019s video.
\n\u201cMandatory cognitive testing to be a politician?\u201d Cr\u00e9mieux, a popular anonymous right-wing X account, wrote. \u201cExtremely based. We should\u2019ve had this sooner.\u201d
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Some on the right lamented that Republicans weren\u2019t focusing on issues like this.
\n\u201cIf only Republicans in swing districts were savvy enough to advocate for issues like this, banning congressional stock trading, etc. instead of screaming \u2018stop deporting illegals,\u2019\u201d Breitbart News political editor Bradley Jaye posted in response to Gluesenkamp Perez\u2019s video.
\nGluesenkamp Perez has criticized the consequences of an aging political class \u2014 particularly lawmakers remaining in office despite cognitive decline \u2014 for some time. In 2025, she argued that members who were too old to hold office and refusing to retire damaged public confidence in Congress.
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The debate has frequently cited the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose health and reported cognitive decline became a source of concern for Democrats before her death in 2023.
\nJust as her proposal attracted bipartisan support, it invited criticism from both sides of the aisle as well.
\n\u201c[Majority Democrats] just wants a younger generation of corporate stooges,\u201d Mason Pressler, a school board member and organizer for Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, wrote on X.
\nMajority Democrats is a center-left Democratic organization that has promoted Gluesenkamp Perez\u2019s effort to make sure elected officials are lucid.
\nSome prominent conservatives argued that the congresswoman\u2019s proposal doesn\u2019t go far enough.
\n\u201cIgnore the fact that our entire fiscal future is in jeopardy due to entitlements, crushing future generations, focus on cognitive tests that might get a few geezers out of office,\u201d commentator Richard Hanania, referencing Social Security and Medicare, wrote. \u201cSome fight against \u2018gerontocracy.\u2019\u201d
\nGluesenkamp Perez made headlines in 2024 when she called on President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential election, citing concerns over his health and age following his widely panned debate performance in June of that year.
\nThe congresswoman, notably, is not hostile to elderly people serving in Congress generally, only when they are mentally unfit to do so.
\n\u201cYou should have members of Congress who are navigating those questions of health care and the medical conditions older people face,\u201d she said in a 2025 interview. \u201cThat makes a stronger body.\u201d
\nGluesenkamp Perez\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.<\/p>\n
This post appeared first on https:\/\/www.foxnews.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"