At 75-years-old, longtime New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Democrat, is far from being the oldest member of Congress, but he’s certainly well past his prime.
A Democratic staffer told The New York Post that Nadler, who serves as chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, has earned a nickname from his peers: “Rock-A-Bye Baby.” It is apparently a well-kept secret that the abrasive congressman falls asleep during meetings – frequently.
Citing a Zoom meeting of House Democratic committee chairs earlier in the year, the aide, who participated in the planning session, said Nadler fell asleep. No one woke him up; the discussion simply continued without him.
The staffer said, “It’s just a known thing.”
The Post reported there have been concerns among his colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, that Nadler “has slowed down considerably.”
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican member of the Judiciary committee, told the Post, “Staff regularly have to wake him up during hearings.”
One House Democrat said, “I don’t think it’s like Dianne Feinstein,” referring to the 89-year-old Democratic senator from California, whose cognitive decline is well-known, according to the report. However, “You can just tell he’s not … as engaged with others.”
.@JerryNadler is sleeping on the job…again. pic.twitter.com/POS7NH3Wk5
— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) October 21, 2021
Two “House insiders” noted that Nadler’s repeated catnaps were one of the reasons why Nancy Pelosi chose House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Adam Schiff to conduct the first Trump impeachment hearing in 2019.
The aide said that Nadler snoozed during his committee’s debate on the articles of impeachment in December 2019.
“During [Louisiana Republican] Rep. Mike Johnson’s time to speak, Nadler fell asleep on live TV in front of millions of viewers. I was in the room when it happened, and it took everything for us to hold back the laughter,” one GOP staffer told the Post.
“He’s also known for taking prolonged breaks when hearings go particularly late into the night, giving the gavel to another member to chair while he’s away — we have no idea where he goes,” the aide said.
Another GOP aide “close to the committee” said, “I’m not trying to be mean, but he really is kind of out of it. The general talk is that California Rep. Zoe Lofgren is next in line and we don’t want someone that savvy in charge because she is definitely not out of it. … With Nadler there is a pattern where it’s really not clear what his mental state is. I’ll just be honest.”
“Like 2 p.m. or following lunch — Jerry [will] be at low power and you can count on looking there and seeing him asleep,” a committee insider noted.
Nadler nearly fainted during a 2019 press conference with then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. He was immediately rushed to the hospital. Media reports said the congressmen had been dehydrated.
Nadler was said to “stumble” through his recent primary debate against his current colleague, longtime House Democrat Carolyn Maloney, whom he defeated. His comment that he “impeached Bush twice” quickly went viral on social media.
‘I impeached Bush twice’: Bumbling Nadler stumbles through debate opening. From @nypost: https://t.co/VippnUq54o
— Byron York (@ByronYork) August 3, 2022
One Democratic colleague told the Post, “There’s been noticeable shift since his wife is ill.” In January 2020, his wife was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
It is extremely concerning that Nadler hasn’t been relieved of his duties. It is genuinely terrifying to consider the number of octogenarians currently running the country.
President Joe Biden will turn 80 in November. His issues obviously go well beyond simple aging and he is clearly no longer fit to lead the country. Similarly Senate Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California, 89, should have stepped down years ago.
But in addition to Biden and Feinstein, who both exhibit clear signs of cognitive struggle, there are many lawmakers in powerful positions who should have bowed out years ago.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 82. Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the majority leader, is 83, and the majority whip, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, is 82.
The oldest Democratic representatives include Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, 86; Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, 85; Grace Napolitano of California, 85; and Maxine Waters, also of California, 84.
The following clip of Waters at the June Summit of the Americas conference made the rounds on social media at the time. It may have been Pelosi’s news conference, but it was Waters who stole the show.
She stared straight into the camera, expressionless. She appeared to be totally disengaged from what the speaker was saying. Maybe she was simply exhausted. What octagenarian wouldn’t be tired after attending a large political conference that required a trip across the country?
Whatever the reason, it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in our congressional leadership.
What’s wrong with Mad Maxine 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/d5btZZtn6j
— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) June 14, 2022
The oldest Republican serving in the House is Hal Rogers of Kentucky, age 84.
Among Senate Republicans, the oldest members include Chuck Grassley of Iowa, 88, Richard Shelby of Alabama, 88, and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, 87. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is 80.
All of these leaders are well past their primes and can’t possibly perform at the level they once did.
The ability of these octogenarians to serve the country effectively is a legitimate question.
Should there be a maximum age limit for members of Congress?
A previous version of this article appeared on The Western Journal.
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Age limits and term limits are needed
On the one hand, forcing turnover means newer blood and sharper minds. OTOH, you still have the puppetmasters of the Capitol Staff Mafia unaffeted, so you have different marionettes with the same hands pulling the strings.
As a start-point in between, I’ve long advocated an 18-year-in-one-office cap. It just seems wrong that a newborn baby some pol gladhands with seeking first election to an office could see that pol’s name on their very first ballot in that same office.
Age limit? No.
Being able to demonstrate the ability to perform the task? Yes.
Senility is much too much pondered because of one man who just happens to be in the White House, when it is ability of man that is paramount.
This thing with age has to stop because it is overshadowing everything good that many elders are very capable of doing. Senility affects different people at different times. I’m more concerned about Jerry Nadler’s ideology than I am about his nodding off at some boring committee hearing because it is his ideology that drives him, not his napping habits.
Without a younger replacement who could perform as Chuck Grassley has, how would just accepting a younger candidate be positive? We seem to be willing to throw out the baby with the bath water if this is our criteria.
This idea about age being a ruling factor is being overthought.
I remember my nodding off at Realtor luncheons when the speaker was boring to my ears.
I would much rather go after Mitch McConnell’s private dealings concerning his family connections to China than to go after his age, or go after his being a constant roadblock to conservatives and campaigning for RINOs and even Democrats, and holding back money to more capable candidates, wouldn’t you?
Consider the oft idiot Lindsay Graham. How old is he? He says dumb stuff all the time. How come it isn’t his age that is a limiter? Because he isn’t as old as those you mention. However, when Lindsay Graham came together and got the rallying cry to get Kavanaugh to be confirmed, we all cheered. His age was never mentioned. Ronald Reagan was constantly targeted as having dementia. When was it that Reagan told us about his dementia? How did it really affect his governance? Was it anything like what the media claimed? Maybe, but I wouldn’t have taken Bush as his successor until that was demonstrated.
What I’m saying is that I don’t care for the “It’s time for the old man to go” crowd. With age comes wisdom. With some it comes earlier than others, and some it never comes, but age should not be the determining factor when capability should.
The factors to determine, when picking representatives should be the same as those that the military uses: Duty, Honor, Country. In other words, service. Along with that goes wisdom and capability, not age.
Perhaps require a fresh MCAT test with publication of results every time up for reelection.
Perhaps, do what a few counties did when the Jon Cornyn went down his path of stupid concerning that ridiculous reaching across the aisle, by censuring him. More local Republican Party county groups could follow their lead. Else, it should be left up to the voter to determine whether or not their “old” candidate for re-election is still up to the task by more participation in the nominating process, or more carefully considering their vote.
True. My thought with requiring a Cognitive Assessment is to make more info available TO the voters. Ideally I’d like a PRP security review too for the same reasons, and if the voters are dumb enough to knowingly elect someone who wouldn’t be trustworthy with classified materials that’s on them.