The sharp increase in the age of Congress since the early 1990s, a rate that doesn’t match the growth in the median American age.
not gonna lie the first time I generated this data and chart it was so jaw dropping I immediately checked to confirm it was right https://t.co/CgvqVhFghs pic.twitter.com/UIV3KZPUC2
— Walter Hickey (@WaltHickey) September 13, 2022
In the 1960s, the median age of Congress was 53.7, and it stayed flat for three decades. However, from 1990 to 2020, had jumped seven years from 53.4 to 60.7 years.
Donald Trump single handedly lowered the age of the federal judiciary by two years during his administration. For the first time ever in 2020 the Congress was older than the federal judiciary, based on median age.
That sharp increase means that today, Congress is uniquely unrepresentative of the country.
Today, about a quarter of Congress is over the age of 70, the highest percentage ever. At the same time, while half the country is aged 38 or younger, just 5 percent of Congress can say the same.
