--- title: "New Law Would Force Aging Members of Congress to Take Cognitive Tests" description: "A proposal put forward by Representative Gluesenkamp Perez would require members of congress to pass mental acuity exams in order to serve." date: "2025-07-15" modified: "2025-07-15" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/law-congress-cognitive-test" categories: - "Brain" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "elderly" - "mental health" - "politics" --- # New Law Would Force Aging Members of Congress to Take Cognitive Tests ![A proposal put forward by Representative Gluesenkamp Perez would require members of congress to pass mental acuity exams in order to serve.]() *\Image: Kevin Carter / Getty / Futurism\* The United States is changing fast. Lawmakers are being forced to grapple not just with timeless questions of governance, but often with novel and rapidly-changing policy issues ranging from [cryptocurrency regulation]() to [tech monopolies]() to [app-based labor](). That quickly shifting landscape has some doubting whether the country's aging lawmakers are up for the increasingly complicated task. The issue is stark, with a larger percentage of Congress [over the age of 70]() than ever before, and a [long]() [string]() [of incidents]() causing constituents to question whether their elected officials are suffering cognitive decline in office. In response, one House democrat is proposing what [*Axios* calls]() a "radical solution" to those concerns: mental fitness exams for lawmakers. The proposal is being raised by Democratic representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who was elected in 2022 to represent the 3rd district of Washington State. Last month, Perez tried to [pass an amendment]() to require the Office of Congressional Conduct to produce a cognitive test to assess members' "ability to perform the duties of office unimpeded by significant irreversible cognitive impairment." Go figure, the proposal was widely unpopular with the House Appropriations Committee that voted on it — but Perez is using the momentum to continue [pushing the issue](). "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*, referencing elderly figures like [Joe Biden]() and [Dianne Feinstein](), who leaned heavily on support staff to function while in office. "We're seeing a very real decline in confidence in Congress." According to the [Pew Research Center](), the median age of a sitting US congressperson currently stands at 64.7 years old. Though Baby Boomers — which Pew defines as the generation born between 1946 and 1964 — no longer have the [monopol]()y on congressional seats they once did, they still hold 60 of the 99 Senate spots, and 39 percent of the House. Congress is getting so old, in fact, that eight sitting members of Congress have died in office [since 2022](), including 75-year old Democrat Gerry Connolly of Virginia in May, which allowed House Republicans to pass Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill by just a [single vote](). 81-year-old Texas Representative Kay Granger, meanwhile — who once sat on the Appropriations Committee currently roadblocking these kinds of checks — was found to have been [admitted to a retirement home]() last year with six months left in her term. "It’s clear people want systemic reform," said Perez. "They want accountability." **More on politics:** [*Nancy Pelosi Invested in a New AI Stock That's Spiking in Value*]() ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()