Elon Musk: Constitutional amendment is needed for age limits for members of Congress

There is an age problem in Congress. Some incidents this week prove that maybe it’s time we talk about the aging of our elected officials.

The first point should be that people age differently. Some people are sharp as a tack at 80 years of age. Others are not so sharp at 70 years of age. Mental decline is different for everyone. Physical aging can be a problem, too, for politicians trying to keep working and holding on to their power.

This week we saw Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell freeze while speaking to reporters. Fortunately, he was surrounded by his colleagues, including Senator John Barrasso, a physician. who was standing right next to him. He was led off by Barrasso and then returned a little later to say he was fine. Still later, McConnell told reporters that the president called to check on him. McConnell made a joke and said he told the president he was sandbagged.

Clearly, he isn’t ok. I’m not a doctor, I just pretend to be one here to make a point. McConnell is 81-years- old. He’s been in office for decades. As sad as it makes me to say, he needs to retire. I think that fall he took at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Washington is having lasting effects. The fall lead to a concussion after hitting his head during the tumble. He also broke some ribs and was away from his office for nearly six weeks. Now there are questions about the senator’s health.

CNN is reporting that he fell in February in Helsinki. He was with a U.S. delegation there. He tripped and fell while getting out of a car on a snowy day. He was walking to meet the Finnish president. Days later, back in Washington, he fell at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

Mitch McConnell fell multiple times in the weeks before he froze for 20 seconds at the Capitol on Wednesday and had to be helped by his colleagues.

The 81-year-old Republican Senate Minority Leader ‘faceplanted’ when getting off a plane at Washington’s Reagan Airport just 12 days ago in one of a series of incidents raising concerns about his health.

All of that points to a physical decline. McConnell began serving in the Senate in 1985. He is not up for re-election until 2026.

Thursday, it was Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein who provided a troubling news story. She missed weeks away from Washington as she recovered from the shingles at home in California. Complications included encephalitis and she struggles with memory issues. She will retire at the end of her term in 2025, but not before that, she said. She is 90.

During a committee meeting on Thursday, a vote was being taken and Feinstein was confused on what she should be doing – which was voting. All she had to do was say, “aye”, but instead, she launched into an explanation of why she was voting yes. A staffer told her to just say “aye” and so did Senator Patty Murray who was sitting next to her. It was an uncomfortable moment, to be sure.

ABC NEWS: It was a “concerning moment” today when Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein had to be verbally instructed — both by a staffer and a fellow senator — how to vote during a committee hearing pic.twitter.com/ovPdJ1miyf

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 27, 2023

Nikki Haley’s idea of politicians taking cognitive tests at the age of 75 and older is looking pretty good these days.

Elon Musk responded that there should be a constitutional amendment about age limits. He was responding to a video of McConnell’s freeze on Twitter.

We need a constitutional amendment. This is insane.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 27, 2023

There is no way a constitutional amendment would ever happen, especially while the country is as divided on every possible issue as it is now. The Founding Fathers, in their wisdom, didn’t make it an easy thing to do. An amendment can be proposed by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and the Senate or it can be by a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of the State legislatures. For reference, none of the 27 amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by constitutional convention.

I will always be thankful to Mitch McConnell for his mastery of the legislative process in the Senate. He knows all the procedural ins and outs to pass legislation. And he was crucial in pushing through conservative judicial nominees, including Supreme Court justices. Thanks to Mitch, Merrick Garland is not sitting on the Supreme Court today.

The good news is that there is now a new plan in place to find his replacement, when he does step down.

In 2021, the GOP-dominated Kentucky Legislature passed a bill that would ensure whoever replaces McConnell would be Republican.

Before the state’s governor would appoint someone to fill the role and then there could be a special election. But now, the appointee shall come from a list of three names chosen by the state’s executive committee.

Beshear would then have to choose McConnell’s replacement from those three nominees.

The bill requires the nominees must come from the same political party as the person they are replacing.

So, that’s good news for Republicans. I hope he is ok and lives many more years. He should be planning his retirement, though. Sen. John Barrasso said he has been worried about McConnell since the fall that caused his concussion and broken ribs. He remains concerned, he said.