Democrats Are Pissed Another One of Their Own Has Died in Congress
Democrats are once again having tough discussions about their party’s gerontocracy, following Rep. David Scott dies Wednesday.
Scott was running for re-election, seeking his thirteenth term in Congress at age 80. His health problems at work were the first reported in 2022. He is now the eleventh Democratic member of Congress to die in office since 2020, and his death comes just a day after another House Democrat, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, resigned following allegations of corruption. An anonymous member of the House rang for Axioscalling the age issue a “responsibility issue.”
“I won’t be here at 80 and I’m not sure why people think they should, but… normal people are going to keep asking that question… [It is] an accountability issue…We need every fucking vote we can get to stop this war in Iran, to…protect people’s rights to vote or to hold DHS accountable,” they said. “When we lose a vote because someone has to resign because of corruption or someone else is dead…people should really ask themselves: Are you absolutely sure that you are the only person in your entire district who can represent your district to the best of your ability?
“Today I’m going to put a lot more pressure on my older colleagues, because the question is going to come back, ‘why are you running again?’” they continued.
“Chairman Scott’s death is incredibly sad for his family, loved ones, staff and everyone he inspired,” said David Hogg, former DNC vice chair and party youth chief. “But…it’s also terrible for his constituents, who could go months without representation, and for the Democratic caucus, which loses another vote in Congress.”
Another House Democrat said Scott’s death “reinforces the need for every member to really evaluate whether they have two full, robust years with margins as close as they are” — referring to the current slim 218-212 GOP majority in the House.
Yet party seniors in Congress remain optimistic, and perhaps foolishly so.
“If you want to volunteer to debate Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Steny Hoyer, Jim Clyburn, all over the age of 85, I invite you to do so and suffer the consequences,” confident Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, 81 and re-elected, told Axios.
Cleaver is a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and current member, as is Scott. The SRC is one of the party’s oldest and most ideologically moderate organizations, and Scott’s death once again draws attention to this reality.
“It’s a bit crude to say, but of the 16 members of Congress who have died in office since 2020, half of them were members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which represents 11% of Congress,” said Washington, DC-based X user Andrew Damitio. job. “There need to be discussions about the transfer of power to the next generation. »
