Rahm Emanuel proposes mandatory retirement age 75 for government officials

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a potential 2028 White House candidate, said Wednesday he wants a mandatory retirement age of 75 for the president and those serving in other branches of government.

“You’re 75: done,” Emanuel, a Democrat, said at a Center for American Progress event. “And it would be within the legislative branch, it would be at the executive branch level – including the Cabinet – and it would also be at the Supreme Court and in all federal courts.”

Emanuel, 66, acknowledged that he would be affected by the proposal if he were elected president in 2028 and sought re-election, since he would be 73 at the start of a possible second term.

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Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed a mandatory retirement age of 75 for the president, congressional and Supreme Court justices. (Getty Images)

“I know where I stand in terms of my age. Of course that would apply to me,” Emanuel told Politico. “You can’t say ‘this is what I want to do to change Washington, one of the things I want to do’ – but I get an exemption because I bought it beforehand.”

The proposal would make President Donald Trump, 79, ineligible to continue serving and would have prevented former President Joe Biden, now 83, from serving his term in the White House.

In Congress, 17 senators and 45 House members are currently aged 75 or older and would be affected by the standard.

Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas, 77, and Samuel Alito, 75, would also be barred from continuing to serve on the bench, while Justices Sonia Sotomayor, 71, and John Roberts, 70, are nearing Emanuel’s mandatory retirement age.

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel acknowledged that the proposal would also impact him if he were elected president in 2028 and sought a second term. (Getty Images)

“You can’t serve in the armed forces, you can’t have jobs in the private sector,” Emanuel told reporters Wednesday. “Go work on your golf swing, it’s not that good at first.”

Emanuel, who served as ambassador to Japan under Biden and chief of staff under former President Barack Obama, is reviving a topic that was hot during the last presidential election.

Biden, then 81, and Trump, then 78, were both campaigning for a second term ahead of the 2024 election while facing questions about repeated gaffes. Biden ultimately dropped out of the race under pressure to end his campaign due to his mental and physical fitness.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who ran in the Republican Party primary in the last presidential election, proposed mandatory mental competency testing for politicians over 75 during her campaign.

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The proposal would make President Donald Trump, 79, ineligible to continue serving and would have prevented former President Joe Biden, now 83, from serving his term. (Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images)

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Emanuel, also a former House member, said he would push for legislation setting the limit instead of attempting a constitutional amendment. It is unclear whether this bill would be constitutional and it could be difficult to gain support in a Congress where the median age of senators is 64.

He said the age limit would be part of a broader demand for “global ethics, lobbying [and] anti-corruption reform” within the federal government that he said would include a crackdown on lawmakers and judges who accept and negotiate actions. He wants the Democratic Party to advance the proposal as part of a midterm message that also includes an increase in the minimum wage.

“You have a president of the United States, in my opinion, who has widened and deepened the swamp. Our job is to drain the swamp as Democrats,” Emanuel said. “Not a day goes by that you don’t read a story about his family, [Commerce Secretary Howard] Lutnick’s family or [Special Envoy Steve] Witkoff’s family is making money.”