Democrats Are Pissed Another One of Their Own Has Died in Congress

Democrats are once again having hard conversations about their party’s gerontocracy, in the wake of Representative David Scott’s death on Wednesday.

Scott was up for reelection, seeking his thirteenth term in Congress at 80 years old. His health issues on the job were first reported in 2022. He is now the eleventh Democratic member of Congress to die in office since 2020, and his death comes just a day after another House Democrat, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, resigned over corruption allegations. One anonymous House member sounded off to Axios, calling the issue of age “a liability problem.”

“I will not be here at the age of 80 and I’m not quite sure why people feel that they should, but ... normal people are going to keep asking the question.... [It is] a liability problem.... We need every fucking vote we can get to stop this war in Iran, to ... protect the right for people to vote or to hold DHS accountable,” they said. “When we’re losing a vote because someone has to resign out of corruption or someone else has died ... people should really ask themselves: Are you absolutely sure you are the only person in your entire district who can represent your district right now to the best of your ability?

“Today is going to put a lot more pressure on my colleagues who are older, because the question is going to come back, ‘why are you running again?’” they continued.

“Chairman Scott’s death is incredibly sad for his family, loved ones, staff, and everyone he inspired,” former DNC vice chair and party youth leader David Hogg said. “But … it’s also terrible for his constituents, who could go months without representation, and the Democratic caucus, which is down another vote in Congress.”

Another House Democrat stated that Scott’s passing “reinforces the need for every member to really evaluate whether they have a full, hardy two years in them with the margins as close as they are”—referring to the slim 218–212 current GOP House majority.

Yet the party’s congressional senior citizens remain bullish, and perhaps foolishly so.

“If you want to volunteer to debate Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Steny Hoyer, Jim Clyburn, all past the age of 85, I welcome you to do so and suffer the consequences,” a confident Representative Emmanuel Cleaver, 81 and up for reelection, told Axios.

Cleaver is a former Congressional Black Caucus chair and current member, as Scott was. The CBC is one of the oldest, most ideologically moderate bodies in the party, and Scott’s death is again calling attention to that reality.

“It’s a bit uncouth to say, but of the 16 members of Congress who have died in office since 2020, half of them have been members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which makes up 11% of Congress,” Washington, D.C.-based X user Andrew Damitio posted. “There needs to be conversations there about handing power to the next generation.”