How long should politicians serve in office?
AUSTIN, Texas - Last week was not a good look for some of America's most revered politicians.
Senators Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein, two of the oldest members of their parties, both appeared to suffer health episodes while on the job.
Senate Republican Leader McConnell says he's fine after he froze during a press conference on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, Senator Feinstein appeared confused during a committee vote with a staff member caught on camera telling her what to do.
These incidents are causing age and health related questions to swirl about Congress.
Senators Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein both appeared to suffer health episodes while on the job.
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Katie Naranjo, chair of the Travis County Democratic Party, and Matt Mackowiak, chair of the Travis County GOP, joined FOX 7 Austin's Mike Warren to discuss.
MIKE WARREN: Matt Mackowiak, these examples, do they fuel the debate for something like a mandatory retirement age or something?
MATT MACKOWIAK: Yeah. And you see mandatory retirement ages and other career fields to the airline commercial airline pilots. I believe maybe surgeons have a similar limit. You know, the limit that does exist is that the voters have a chance to weigh in, obviously, both in primary elections and general elections. In spite of that, you do see very, very old, very elderly, in some cases very limited. Elected officials get elected. It's not just these two, of course. I think Dianne Feinstein is in a different category than Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Feinstein has really been out of it for quite a while. And, of course, our president is now 80 years old, Joe Biden, and will be seeking reelection at 81. So there are elected officials on both sides that are probably well beyond the age of where you should be as sharp and as able to carry these stressful jobs as you would want. But also, the voters have the final say.
MIKE WARREN: Katie Naranjo, what's your take? Like, Matt, let the voters decide or should something else be done?
KATIE NARANJO: Well, that is the ultimate competency test, right? Is the election and maybe clear that competency is not just an age issue. You have folks like George Santos and Marjorie Taylor Greene who have shown to be quite incompetent when it comes to holding office, telling the truth or having any dignity or decorum on the Congress floor. And there's an age issue there. I think in general, we need to be mindful about term limits which don't necessarily inclusive of age issues, but more talk about turning over and having different perspectives and vote for folks who represent our democracy. When you have somebody sitting in the same seat for a very long period of time, you want to know whether they are representing the true will of the people that they're representing. So it's not necessarily an age issue, but more having a more diverse turnover of the electorate in Congress.
MIKE WARREN: You know, real quickly, Matt Mackowiak, so as far as age, like what we're seeing with Mitch McConnell and especially Dianne Feinstein. You don't agree. You don't think there should be any kind of community competency tests or anything like that.
MATT MACKOWIAK: No, I don't. And I don't know if that would need to be added to the Constitution as a Constitutional amendment. I don't know whether something like that would pass. I mean, McConnell stepped away from a press conference, came back, completed the press conference. So he's clearly fine. Feinstein hasn't been doing anything without the help of staff for a very long time now for several years. So I think there's a distinction there. Good to hear Katie and I come out in favor of term limits. Republicans have consistently been in favor of term limits. I certainly do as well. I think we do need term limits. We can get new people in there. Politics was never meant to be a career, meant to be public service for a short period time.
MIKE WARREN: All right, Katie, final word on this subject.
KATIE NARANJO: I think that Matt is really parsing issues here when it comes to the issue of Mitch McConnell's performance as well as Senator Feinstein. I think in general, the election is that competency test. And I think folks are very concerned about Leader McConnell's behavior when it comes to making sure that we have all the appointments filled that government is running. He is and still being obstructive. And that's a big concern.