This is a series of proposals I’ll be writing about how Democrats can rebuild trust with voters. The point of this series is not to offer another slogan or a softer version of the same old party message. The point is to name specific reforms Democrats should adopt if we want to prove to the country that we understand what went wrong, especially after 2024, and that we are willing to change the system even when that change applies to us.
The Democratic Party cannot rebuild trust after what happened with Joe Biden last cycle by pretending it never happened. Voters told us for years that President Biden should not run again. They questioned his age, his stamina, and whether he was prepared for another term. Too many Democratic leaders, consultants, allies, and public validators responded by insisting everything was fine. He was spry. He was energetic. He was sharp. He was ready. Voters were told, in effect, to ignore what they could see with their own eyes.
That did real damage. It gave millions of Americans reason to wonder whether Democrats would tell the truth when the truth was inconvenient. The response cannot be to move on, change the subject, and hope people forget. The response has to be reform that shows voters we learned something.
I first called for age limits in 2022, when I was running for governor of South Carolina. My proposal was simple: a 72-year-old age limit for South Carolina politicians, modeled in part on South Carolina’s existing mandatory retirement age for judges. I said at the time that if 72 was too old for a judge to interpret the law, then 72 was too old to make the law. The AP covered the proposal then, including my argument that too many politicians were staying in office “way past their prime.”
There were practical concerns, too. Many of the most pressing issues of today involve new technology, emerging industries, and how all of it affects families: AI, crypto, algorithms, and an unaccountable social media industry, just to name a few. The country is changing fast. Washington is not.
That same year — 2022 — I publicly said President Biden should step aside and let a new generation emerge. I was not trying to be provocative. I was saying what voters were saying openly and what many Democratic leaders were saying privately. The State reported at the time that I said Biden should “step aside” in 2024 and allow “a new generation” to emerge.
By August 2023, 77 percent of Americans thought Biden was too old to be effective in a second term, including 69 percent of Democrats. The same survey found that 66 percent of Americans favored setting a maximum age for presidential candidates, 68 percent favored a maximum age for House and Senate candidates, and 67 percent favored requiring Supreme Court justices to retire by a specific age.
The issue has only grown since then. A 2026 NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found that 80 percent of Americans support setting a maximum age limit for candidates running for the House or Senate, while 83 percent support term limits for members of Congress. Support crossed party lines: 78 percent of Democrats, 83 percent of Republicans, and 79 percent of independents supported age limits.
The public is not the obstacle. The obstacle is Washington, because the people who would be affected by age limits are the same people who would have to limit themselves.
That is exactly why Democrats should lead.
My proposal is straightforward: a mandatory retirement age of 75 for federal elected officials, Cabinet officials, and federal judges. Democrats should also support six-year term limits for congressional leadership posts, independent cognitive assessments for officeholders over 72 in major leadership roles, and full, plain-English medical transparency for presidential candidates over 70.
Some of that would require constitutional work. Fine. Put the issue in front of the country and let every politician defend their position publicly. If someone believes members of Congress, presidents, Cabinet officials, and federal judges should be allowed to hold power indefinitely, they can explain that to voters themselves.
Rahm Emanuel has been saying this plainly and effectively. Earlier this year, he called for a mandatory retirement age of 75 across all three branches of the federal government, including the president, Congress, Cabinet officials, the Supreme Court, and federal judges. More Democrats should join him.
The consequences are no longer theoretical. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Act passed the House by one vote, 215–214, with every voting Democrat opposed. Three Democratic members — Gerry Connolly, Sylvester Turner, and Raúl Grijalva — had died in office earlier that year. If all three had been alive and voting as expected, the bill would have failed.
Age limits will not fix everything wrong with Washington or the Democratic Party, but they would send a message voters would understand immediately: we heard you, we learned something, and we are willing to prove it.
Democrats do not need another excuse for why nothing can change. We need a new standard.
Mandatory age limits are a good place to start.
Want more from Joe? His new book, Life of the Party: How Democrats Lost America’s Trust — and How They Can Win It Back, is available for purchase now. It’s a sharp, honest argument for how Democrats can rebuild trust, speak plainly, and become a party voters are proud to support again.
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