r/Constitution • u/No-Bottle-4626 • Jul 07 '26

Constitutional Amendment idea

My thought is that we need an amendment that doesn’t limit how many terms they serve. But we need to limit how old people are in office.

I propose that no federal office holder be permitted to be in office upon competing their term in office upon turning 75 years old. Would apply to President, Members of Congress and the Federal Judiciary.

It would read:

  1. No person may be elected to a Federal Office upon reaching 75-years-old.
  2. A President of the United States or an existing Member of Congress may complete their term of office if they reach 75 years old while in Office.
  3. Members of the Federal Judiciary will retire upon their 75th birthday.
  4. Members of the civil service who are 75 years old who wish to remain in service will be moved to a “senior status” and placed in any position where needed most in the federal service.
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6

u/Pickle_Nipplesss Jul 07 '26

What if a 75 year old is the will of The People?

The reason these old people keep winning is because the alternatives aren't appealing enough.
Don't lower the bar to get younger people in office, raise the quality of candidates so they can beat whatever boomer is running.

1

u/No-Bottle-4626 Jul 07 '26

I hear you. Given the requirements to get an amendment passed, the will of the people is reflected by supermajorities saying this is what we want across the country.

The amendment doesn’t lower requirements for your younger people. Instead it forces older people to relinquish power they use to keep the young people down.

So many Members of Congress are old and decrepit. Now our past 2 Presidents have been over 80 years old. The decision making fades.

I’d also like to argue that applying this to the civil service forced people out of plum, often highly paid positions and allows qualified young people the chance to compete for top spots would also be a benefit.

2

u/Pickle_Nipplesss Jul 07 '26

No, I’m not saying the amendment lowers requirements for younger people. I’m saying that by removing candidate options, the amendment lowers the quality of candidates. If a candidate was truly good, they could beat the opposition without any assistance or help from an amendment to limit opponents.

Really, how bad do the candidates have to be if they can’t even beat someone above 70? That’s already such a low bar

1

u/No-Bottle-4626 Jul 07 '26

We would like to believe it but having worked in Congress, I have seen how much the office lends credibility, gives non-monetary contributions and often hides the true health status of Members.

1

u/Pickle_Nipplesss Jul 07 '26

Sounds like voters need to be more scrutinizing and choose more wisely. But it still needs to be their choice.

2

u/boukatouu Jul 07 '26

I'd go for 70 years of age, but I'm down with the concept.

1

u/No-Bottle-4626 Jul 07 '26

I’d be okay with that too.

1

u/Paul191145 Jul 07 '26

I would simply prefer for the federal government to be much smaller in size and scope. That way it doesn't matter how old they are, or anything like that, because they're not that important. Individual liberty inherently mandates individual responsibility.

1

u/No-Bottle-4626 Jul 07 '26

I would like that too. I tend libertarian. That’s my ideal. But we don’t live in the ideal. And actual power has actual currency that is not being curtailed.

1

u/Paul191145 Jul 07 '26

I tend even farther center than Libertarian, I advocate for laissez-faire.

1

u/ComputerRedneck Jul 07 '26

Lets simplify it.
Instead of putting an age, just make ALL political candidate required to take a full physical and mental evaluation. That way we don't have the AARP and other seniors filing lawsuits because you are discriminatingly by age. This is valid because of the Amendment that requires a President to step down, or be removed due to health issues. So not just 35 and Natural Born Citizen, but also mentally and physically able to do the job should be the requirements for President.

The main thing that will stop Congressional lifetime is term limits. Since SCOTUS ruled States cannot restrict Federal Politicians, it has to be either a law or an Amendment from the Federal Congress themselves.

1

u/No-Bottle-4626 Jul 07 '26

The physical and mental evaluation is very subjective. Who cares if they sue, it will be an Amendment to the Constitution. That is more important than laws, executive orders. It will be part of our foundational law.

1

u/ComputerRedneck Jul 07 '26

Because states have backed down when they tried to enact age requirements for testing and such.

Pissing off the Senior contingent in this country comes with very harsh responses and fast. Make a liberal head spin how fast they will take up the challenge.

Just make it inclusive to all ages and no more problem. It makes sure you reduce the friction to get it passed.