Rising deaths in Congress highlight concerns of an aging legislative body  

Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) last week became the fifth member of the 119th Congress to die in office, continuing an upward trend in the number of member deaths seen in recent years.

Scott’s death puts the current two-year session — which began January 2025 and ends January 2027 — on track to surpass recent congressional sessions: Four members died during the 118th, six died during the 117th, three died during the 116th, three died during the 115th, two died during the 114th, and two died during the 113th. 

In the decade before that, from 2003 to 2013, each session saw a maximum of one member die, with the 110th Congress a notable outlier at eight.

After a lull in the 2000s and early 2010s, deaths in Congress have begun to tick back up, renewing concerns about the cost of an aging legislative body as both parties grapple with calls for younger leadership.

Several factors likely contribute to the recent uptick. Gregory Koger, a political science professor at the University of Miami and director of its Hanley Democracy Center, said the rise corresponds with an aging Congress and few incentives to retire.

“People are living longer,” Koger told The Hill. “There aren’t a lot of forces driving people out of politics, other than whether or not their district is close, in partisan terms.”

“If you’ve got a member of Congress, who is in a safe seat, there isn’t a strong mechanism to encourage them to retire when they have reached the limits of their health or their energy or their interest in the job,” he continued. “So, a lot of them do stay on.”

The 119th Congress is one of the oldest on record, with a median age of 57.5 in the House and 64.7 in the Senate, according to Pew Research Center. The current session skews slightly younger than past years after some older members died and younger members were elected. 

The uptick in deaths comes amid a broader reckoning in American politics over the aging legislative body. While critics say age alone is not disqualifying, several high-profile cases of lawmakers appearing to........

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