2026-07-29T10:00:25.705Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
作者：莱安妮·巴雷特-伊马德加瓦、詹妮弗·阿杰斯塔
发布时间：2026年7月29日 美国东部时间上午6:00
在为本月早些时候去世、享年71岁的共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆举行悼念仪式之际，美国国内关于政坛人士高龄化的讨论愈演愈烈。
据参议院米奇·麦康奈尔办公室近期发表的一份声明，现年84岁的麦康奈尔自6月摔倒住院后便缺席了国会投票，且他还患上了“轻度肺炎”。此前数周，外界一直猜测他的身体状况。
当前的国会是美国历史上最年长的国会之一——这一趋势预计还会加速，参议院尤为明显。一项新的CNN民调显示，大多数美国人认为70岁以上议员团的规模是一个重大问题，并希望当选官员的健康状况能更加透明。
今年11月的中期选举可能成为美国选民就国会的人口构成发表意见的契机。由SSRS实施的最新CNN民调显示，58%的美国人认为，现任国会中老年议员所占比例构成了重大问题。在35岁以下的美国民众中，这一比例升至68%。
几十年来，参议员和众议员的平均年龄一直在稳步上升。
CNN民调还发现，美国民众普遍希望当选官员的健康状况能更加透明。近三分之二的美国人表示，他们认为当选官员应该公布所有可能影响其履职能力的医疗信息，仅有35%的人认为官员和普通公民一样，有权保密自己的医疗记录。
这一倾向跨越党派界限，且在过去几十年中有所增强。2018年，CNN的民调发现，民众在总统是否应该披露医疗信息的问题上几乎持平；而在2004年，61%的民众支持公职人员享有医疗隐私。
CNN民调显示，70%的两大政党支持者表示，如果本党提名70岁以上的人士参选，他们会感到不安或不满。一项7月的福克斯新闻民调发现，85%的登记选民认为议员应该有强制退休年龄，其中约一半的人表示希望该强制退休年龄低于70岁。
在本届国会中，超过三分之一的参议员年龄超过70岁。
今年11月，20名现任参议员将角逐连任。他们的年龄从39岁（佐治亚州的乔恩·奥索夫）到83岁（爱达荷州的吉姆·里施）不等。如果他们全部连任，到2033年——也就是他们下一届任期可能结束的年份——其中一半以上的人将超过70岁。值得注意的是，麦康奈尔、现年81岁的民主党参议员伊利诺伊州的迪克·德宾和现年79岁的新罕布什尔州的珍妮·沙欣将在今年退休，他们是参议院本届任期内年龄最大的议员之一。
美国的典型退休年龄约为65岁，届时许多人有资格通过联邦医疗保险获得政府资助的健康保险，但65岁以上的人群在国会两党中仍占相当比例。
与普通民众的对比
美国宪法规定，众议员必须年满25岁，参议员必须年满30岁，因此国会的年龄结构自然比普通民众更大。
根据美国人口普查局2025年的数据，全美只有19%的人口年龄超过65岁，而现任美国参议员的中位年龄为66岁。这意味着，尽管不到五分之一的美国人年龄超过65岁，但约有一半的参议员属于这一群体。
现年92岁的爱荷华州共和党参议员查克·格拉斯利是参议院年龄最大的议员，他同时担任参议院临时议长一职。这一职位使其成为总统继任顺序中的第三位——5月白宫记者晚宴发生安全漏洞时，他是出席活动的最高级别政府官员之外的人员，这一情况近期凸显了这一职位的特殊性。
This Congress is one of the oldest yet. Most Americans think that’s a problem, a new CNN poll shows
2026-07-29T10:00:25.705Z / CNN
By Rhyannon Bartlett-Imadegawa, Jennifer Agiesta
PUBLISHED Jul 29, 2026, 6:00 AM ET
photo illustration by Alberto Mier/CNN
As funeral honors continue for the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died earlier this month at the age of 71, the national conversation around aging political figures has only intensified.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, 84, has been sidelined from Hill votes since a June fall landed him in the hospital and he also contracted a “mild case” of pneumonia, according to a recent statement from his office after weeks of speculation.
The current Congress is among the oldest in US history — a trend that is expected to accelerate, especially in the Senate. A majority of Americans see the size of the over-70 caucus as a major problem and want to see more transparency around elected officials’ health, according to a new CNN poll.
The midterm elections this November could be an opportunity for American voters to weigh in on the demographic makeup of Congress. Fifty-eight percent of Americans in the latest CNN poll, conducted by SSRS, say that the current share of elderly lawmakers serving in Congress poses a major problem. That rises to 68% among Americans younger than 35.
The average age of senators and representatives has been on a steady climb for decades.
The CNN poll also finds a desire for greater transparency about elected officials’ health more broadly. Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they think elected officials ought to release all medical information that might affect their ability to serve, while just 35% say they have the same right as every other citizen to keep their medical records private.
That preference cuts across party lines and appears to have grown in the last few decades. In 2018, CNN polling found a near-even split over whether presidents should disclose their medical information, and in 2004, 61% came down on the side of privacy for those serving as president.
The CNN poll finds that 70% of people who align with either major party say they’d be uneasy or upset if their party nominated someone over the age of 70 for office. And a July Fox News Poll found that 85% of registered voters think there should be a mandatory retirement age for lawmakers, with about half of those saying they’d prefer that required age be below 70.
In the current Congress, more than a third of senators are over the age of 70.
This November, 20 incumbent senators are vying to return for another full term. Their ages range from 39 (Jon Ossoff of Georgia) to 83 (Jim Risch of Idaho), and if they all win their seats, more than half of them will be over 70 by 2033, the year their next potential term would conclude. Notably, McConnell and Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, 81, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, 79, are retiring after this year and are among the oldest in the Senate whose seats are up this cycle.
While the typical retirement age in the US sits squarely around 65, when many are eligible for federally funded health insurance through Medicare, the over-age-65 population is still well-represented across both parties in Congress.
Comparing to the general population
Because the US Constitution requires that members of the House must be at least 25 years of age or older, and the minimum age for senators is 30, Congress naturally skews older than the general population.
While only 19% of the general US population is over age 65, according to the Census Bureau’s 2025 data, the median age of currently sitting US senators is 66. That means while fewer than one in five Americans are over 65, about half of senators fit into that category.
At 92, Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa is the oldest member of the Senate, where he serves as the president pro tempore. This role puts him third in line to the presidency — a fact recently underscored when he was the highest-ranking administration official not in attendance at the May security breach of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
发表回复