There are only a few requirements to qualify for public office, including citizenship, where you live & being at least a certain age depending on the job.

There is not, however, a maximum age for serving in Congress, the Supreme Court or the Presidency.

But as our governing bodies get older, it begs the question... should there be?

The United States government is a marketplace of ideas, and the American people vote for those ideas in the form of their representatives, senators and the president.

Now, we should clarify upfront that good ideas can come from anyone, no matter their age, race, background, or any other trait.

But does not having age limit for public office keep new ideas from being able to enter the marketplace?

If the maximum age for U.S. senators was set to 80, roughly 5% of current senators would be ineligible to serve.

That number jumps to over 30%.

If it were set at 70 and almost 70% if it was set at 60.

Despite being allowed to begin serving in the House at 25 and the Senate at 30.

The average age of a representative is around 58, and the average age for a senator is around 65.

In 2024, Joe Biden is in his eighties and currently our nation's oldest president in history.

Following Donald Trump, who was also our nation's oldest president during his term and the United States has seen senators, representatives and Supreme Court justices reach their nineties while in office.

Supreme Court justices have lifetime appointments along with all federal judges.

When you consider that the American people do not get to vote on these judges directly, but instead vote for the people that nominate and confirm them... Should they be able to remain in office indefinitely?

After all, their decisions could have impacts for generations well beyond the span of their lives.

According to Pew Research, there is bipartisan support among Americans behind setting maximum ages for elected officials and Supreme Court justices.

Still, it would be no easy feat to actually set these age limits.

It would likely take a constitutional amendment to set maximum age limits for public office, an effort that could take years to accomplish and would likely require the votes of sitting members of Congress who may not be eager to set limits on how long they can serve.

And let's say a new amendment had the support of Congress.

Now you get into some really tricky decisions.

How old is too old?

Because while there may be a majority bipartisan opinion in favor of setting age limits, there is much less agreement of what those limits should actually be.

And remember, you have to be very careful you don't slip into age discrimination when talking about this issue.

A person's age alone does not define their abilities or beliefs.

Some argue that a more palatable plan would be to set term limits for all public offices, just like we do for the presidency.

This would not keep anyone out due to age, but would ensure a regular flow of new people and ideas.

An argument against this plan is that government, and especially Congress, is a game of compromises.

Compromise takes trust, and trust can take time to build, especially for representatives who only serve two year terms.

It may be difficult to build that necessary level of trust to become an effective lawmaker if they were limited in how many terms they could serve.

So what do you think?

Should we set age or term limits for those who hold public office?

Right now, if you're unhappy with your current representation in government, your best bet is to work on getting someone new in their seat.

Or if you're old enough, run for the office yourself.