Capitol Hill is not supposed to be one to die on.
A supermajority of Americans of all political persuasions want age and term limits placed on lawmakers as well as candidates seeking election to the House or Senate, according to a new poll.
The NPR/PBS News/Marist survey found that 80% of registered voters support setting a maximum age limit for candidate eligibility, while 84% backed capping the number of terms legislators could serve.
Republicans were slightly more supportive of term limits (89%) and age limits (83%) than Democrats (78% support for both). Respondents ages 60 or older were more amenable to term limits (84%) than age limits (79%).
The survey didn’t propose any specific age or term limit.
Currently, House lawmakers are required to be at least 25 years old, while aspiring senators must be 30 years old to seek office. There is no maximum age limit or restriction on how many terms they can seek.
Support for such a policy comes after five House members have died in office during the 119th Congress.
The most recent casualty, Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), passed away April 22 at age 80 of natural causes after a period of declining health.
The 119th Congress is the third-oldest in US history, behind the 115th (2017-2019) and 117th (2021-2023), per an analysis by NBC News.
The median age of the 435-member House of Representatives was 57.5 years as of early 2025, according to data from Pew Research, while the Senate has a median age of 64.7 years.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), 92, is the oldest member of either chamber of Congress, having been born five months after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inauguration. He is No. 3 in the presidential line of succession and chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Meanwhile, President Trump is set to turn 80 next month. Should he conclude his term as scheduled on Jan. 20, 2029, he will surpass his predecessor, Joe Biden, as the oldest president in US history.
Various proposals have been floated to ensure lawmakers are at their sharpest, including a mental competency test, but so far, none of them have gotten much traction in Congress.
The poll sampled 1,155 registered voters April 27-30 with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.3 percentage points.
