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Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, the longest-serving New Yorker and Jewish member of the House, is retiring.
Nadler, a 78-year-old liberal stalwart, has served in Congress for more than three decades. For four years, he chaired the powerful House Judiciary Committee, during which he oversaw two impeachments of President Donald Trump.
Nadler can cite a long list of political accomplishments under his belt. Yet it seems he's retiring not because he feels he's done enough, but because he thinks he ought to make way for a younger generation. The New York Times reports that Nadler's decision was influenced by how former President Joe Biden's age was a problem while in office:
[Nadler] said he hesitated to step aside when he believes that President Trump is threatening the foundations of democracy. But he said he had been persuaded it was time for a changing of the guard. “Watching the Biden thing really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that,” Mr. Nadler said, adding that a younger successor “can maybe do better, can maybe help us more.”
It's a striking comment. Yes, many Democratic lawmakers eventually agreed that Biden's age had become a problem and lobbied for him to drop out of the presidential race ahead of the 2024 election. But that hasn't spurred a mass exodus of older lawmakers from the Democratic Party.
More of Congress is 70-plus than ever. In the House, the Democratic Party has scores of members over the age of 70 — nearly double the amount that the GOP does. Three House Democrats have died this year.
It's possible Nadler's decision to call it was influenced by wariness of an unusually competitive primary season ahead of 2026 in a state filled with ambitious progressives. As NBC News reports, "Despite his seniority, Nadler was bound to face a robust primary challenge from a potentially wide field of younger and more progressive challengers."
But Nadler's acknowledgment of the age problem— and its potential to stymie a need for change within the party — is laudable all the same. And it's easier to judge it as sincere after he was the most high-profile New York Democrat to quickly embrace democratic socialist state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani after his shocking upset in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary.
One hopes that more Democrats take Nadler's cue.