American political leadership skews decidedly older than the population as a whole. President Donald Trump turned 80 years old on June 14, 2026. The median age for senators is nearly 65, and the median age for House of Representatives members is almost 58.

But are those older people in office a sign that the U.S. government is turning into a “gerontocracy” that is giving younger generations short shrift?

No – many older Americans are becoming worse off.

We are experts in elder law who have been following the legal treatment of older Americans for decades. One of us writes a leading elder law casebook, and we are co-authors of a book on aging that will be published in January 2027. Through our research, we have observed a series of federal policy changes that will make life harder for many Americans of modest means as they age.

In our view, those policies show why, more than ever, it is wrong to assume that rich and powerful older people will protect all older adults, including those who aren’t wealthy.

Social Security cuts loom

Perhaps the most publicized of these policy failures is that the federal government hasn’t taken steps to stave off Social Security benefits cuts.

The program will have to cut the benefits it provides by roughly 22% starting in 2032 unless Congress steps up. That would affect a lot of people: Currently, Social Security pays benefits to more than 60 million retired........

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