Democrats’ gerontocracy problem is front and center in the Trump era

The most powerful elected official in the Democratic Party at the moment uses a flip phone and does not send email. “I don't do e-mails. I get them but I don't do them," Chuck Schumer told a local news outlet several years ago.

As U.S. Senate Minority Leader, Schumer is one of the most visible representatives of the Democratic Party’s brand and platform. He arguably has the greatest say over Democrats’ inside strategy to block or stall parts of President Trump’s agenda. And yet, “embarrassing,” “so unbelievably bad,” and “horrific,” are just a few of the words used by senior Senate Democratic staffers to describe Chuck Schumer these days.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve spoken with a half dozen current or former Democratic Senate Communications Directors, Legislative Directors, or Chiefs of Staff about Chuck Schumer and whether or not he is the right person to lead Democrats at this moment. Every person requested to speak on background, out of fear of losing their jobs or angering their friends. Each is in agreement that the Democratic leader has struggled to find his footing in the new Trump era, and should pass the torch to the next generation.

Most gripes I’ve heard about Schumer are not specific. Criticisms have centered around both his style and substance, his lack of understanding of the modern media environment, and his inability, at least initially, to stop or slow down the confirmations of every Trump cabinet nominee. He has led from behind, moved too slowly, and despite having months to prepare for the incoming administration, did not have a unified strategy in place on January 20th. 

“What Democrats need right now is a new generation of leaders that say, ‘Hey, I'm taking the baton. Follow me.’ And they don't all have to be going in the same direction, but we need a bunch of them going in a direction,” one former Senate staffer told me. “The problem is, Chuck Schumer doesn't really go in any direction. That's kind of his whole thing. We need more of these Democrats who represent the party brand that people fundamentally rejected to step aside and let new people pick it up.”

The few Democrats who have been willing to go public with their complaints about Schumer have not held back. Tim Ryan, a former Congressman and candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio in 2022, commented on one recent Schumer public appearance: “Is it Saturday Night Live or real life? …It’s just so depressing.” 

Brett Meiselas, the co-founder of progressive media behemoth Meidas Touch, reacted to the same video, tweeting, “Can we please get him far away from the action? ... this is just cringeworthy and embarrassing.” Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, recently went on a minutes-long anti-Schumer tirade. “Democrats, can you stop fucking trotting Schumer out there? He’s not good at this.“ 

Schumer is only the most visible example of a much bigger problem facing the Democratic Party in the Trump era. As American Democracy remains on life support, and 19-year-olds led by Elon Musk systematically destroy decades of government progress, Democrats continue to play an old game of seniority, expecting geriatric leaders who rely on the same tired playbook to lead them out of the wilderness.

In the current Congress, there are 15 Senators who caucus with Democrats who are over age 70. The median age of a Democratic Senator in 2025 is 66 years old - a few years older than their Republican counterparts. 

Schumer’s number two, Dick Durbin of Illinois, is age 80 and serves as both Senate Minority Whip and Ranking Member on the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi is 84 years old and has filed to run for re-election in 2026. Democrats older than 70 years old serve as ranking members of major House committees from Ways and Means to Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, and Appropriations. And in December, House Democrats chose a 74-year-old man with throat cancer to lead the powerful Oversight Committee instead of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

Just last week, the Democrats’ gerontocracy problem was once again under the spotlight, when Rep. John Larson, a 76-year-old Democratic member of the House of Representatives from Connecticut, had a major health incident live on C-SPAN. The shocking moment has been viewed at least 8 million times across TikTok and Instagram alone. 

It’s hardly new or noteworthy that members of Congress are being criticized for being too old. But, Democrats across the country are seething at what they see as a lack of energy from their leaders in Washington. The new administration is creating unprecedented political and constitutional crises on a daily basis, and many feel that new leaders are needed to meet this pivotal moment in American history. 

“Primary every Democrat” was the headline of a recent column by Meredith Shiner in the New Republic. “Democrats have built their entire party structure on polite deference, seniority, and chasing bipartisanship as an outcome, as opposed to elevating the most talented and passionate politicians into roles in which they can make impact or articulating, defending, and expanding the role of what government can do to improve the lives of others,” Shiner wrote. 

“Every Democrat in Congress over the age of 70 should seriously consider making this their last term,” Amanda Litman, founder of progressive organization Run for Something, wrote last week in the Daily Beast. “Time after time over the last few years, we have seen the impact of our senior leaders (pun intended) holding onto power far past their prime, from President Joe Biden to Senator Dianne Feinstein to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And we have all paid the consequences.”

What Litman is proposing isn’t unpopular. Americans have long supported term limits for elected officials, and according to a Pew Survey conducted in 2023, strong majorities in both parties support maximum age limits for federal elected officials too. Even older Americans agree.

For Democrats, there is very little certainty or agreement about what went wrong in 2024. However, the one thing that most people tend to agree on is that Democrats were too eager to fall in line behind an aging leader and betray their own common sense. In 2022 and 2023, when President Biden was making the decision to run for re-election, Democrats in DC - from consultants to Hill staffers to elected officials - did not have the courage to speak out publicly against him. They continued along with business as usual and deferred to out-of-touch party elders to make the right call in extremely unprecedented times. Ultimately, we all paid the price. Are they choosing to make the same mistake again?

More things you should read

• Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post is refusing to run an advertisement from Common Cause and the SPLC Action fund calling for the firing of Elon Musk. “We are forced to ask ourselves if The Washington Post — a pillar of investigative journalism during Watergate — is unwilling to challenge those in power,” the head of Common Cause told CNN.

• I spoke with Elena Schneider at POLITICO for this piece about why it has been incredibly difficult for Democrats to break through online since Trump’s election.

• Progressive creator engagement firm Social Currant released a new report today detailing their program successes from 2024. You can read it via a DocSend link here.

• According to Dave Weigel at Semafor, “Fake, viral conspiracies on X” are overrunning American politics.

• Emily Amick wrote a good newsletter on how MAGA’s playbook went from Joe Rogan to Candace Owens.

• Law firm Sheppard Mullin is maintaining a pretty detailed list of President Trump’s executive orders and their current status in this Google Sheet. 

• Here’s a fascinating new report by the BBC into how videos are viewed on YouTube. (h/t Taylor Lorenz)

• POLITICO published an interesting look at Vice President JD Vance’s understanding of the online space. 

One last thing: A cynical TikTok

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