Growing push for cognitive decline tests for members of Congress hits snag despite 'accelerating loss of confidence'
After former President Joe Biden stunned the nation by cancelling his presidential bid weeks after his disastrous debate against Donald Trump, scrutiny over age-related decline has shifted from the White House to Capitol Hill.
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., proposed an amendment earlier this summer that would force an independent congressional body that reviews misconduct allegations to create standards to determine lawmakers' 'ability to perform the duties of office unimpeded by significant irreversible cognitive impairment.'
Her proposal was unanimously and swiftly rejected by her colleagues, though her effort to set cognitive standards is far from over.
'I hear about it at town halls; I heard a lot about it after the presidential debate,' Perez told the New York Times of Biden's fateful showdown against Trump last summer. 'It is my job to reflect my community's sentiment that this is a problem. It's my job to reflect the accelerating loss of confidence in this body.'
'We have all of these rules about dumb stuff — hats — and not this more significant question of who is making decisions in the office,' she said.
Perez, 37, is the co-chair of Democrats' moderate Blue Dog Coalition. She is one of the few Democratic members of Congress to be elected in a district that President Donald Trump carried.
She is also one of the few Democrats to express concerns over the health of Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, 88-year-old non-voting delegate for Washington, D.C. who has been dogged by reports about her cognitive decline.
Norton, the oldest member of the House of Representatives, has shown signs of decline during her official duties.
Aides frequently help her navigate the sprawling Capitol complex and they have had to walk back quotes Norton gives to reporters.
But she seems unconcerned with her own condition, announcing recently that she would seek re-election next year, when she will be 89.
One of her staffers later told reporters that 'no decision has been made' yet about the D.C. delegate's re-election.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle appear opposed to cognitive tests because they're seen as a personal attack on older lawmakers and infringe on Congress' long tradition that rewards seniority.
According to an analysis done by the Times, more than one in five members, or 22 percent, of this Congress is 70 or older - a level not seen in modern history.
Age-related issues in the Capitol have become painfully clear this year after three sitting members of Congress, all 70-years-old or older, have died this year while in office.
In March, Democratic Reps. Sylvester Turner of Texas and Raúl Grijalva of Arizona passed away due to complications with cancer. Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly died in May from esophageal cancer while he held the top Democratic position on the powerful House Oversight Committee.
In 2024, there were also three Democratic members of the House who passed away while in office.
'What I've heard from my neighbors, my community is this idea that this place is being run by a bunch of staffers,' Perez told Axios this year. 'And we're seeing a very real decline in confidence in Congress.'
Despite her amendment getting shot down earlier this year, the 37-year-old has floated plans to renew her push for cognitive standards saying she may propose it as a stand alone bill.
She has said she may court some Republican support to get her bill through the House.
'This is not an issue that's going away,' she told the Times. 'We're still talking to other members of Congress about a stand-alone bill, and trying to talk with leadership about a path forward here.'
Her push comes amid a House Oversight Committee investigation into Biden's mental acuity and whether it was covered-up by his top staffers.
Many of the ex-Biden aides have pleaded their Fifth Amendment protections to not incriminate themselves during their interviews with the committee, raising questions about what they knew about the Democrat's health and when.
'It's a question of whether the elected member is making the decisions,' Perez said.
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