Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is on course to become the oldest person in history to hold the speaker’s gavel now that she has secured a deal to give her at least two more years as the top House of Representatives leader.
Pelosi, now 78, will be almost 81 at the close of the 116th Congress, which ends on Jan. 3, 2021. That will make her nearly a year older than legendary Speaker Sam Rayburn, D-Texas, who died in office less than two months shy of his 80th birthday.
Pelosi will turn 80 on March 26, 2020, a little more than a year into her new speaker’s term. She will achieve the milestone of oldest ever speaker on Feb. 7, 2020 — beating Rayburn’s record. Pelosi will also be the first speaker since Rayburn to hold nonconsecutive terms.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is already the oldest Senate majority leader in history. He will turn 77 in February and has no plans to retire or agree to term limits. The oldest holder of the position prior to him was Sen. Mike Mansfield, D-Mont., who was 73 when he left office in 1977.
Pelosi, who entered Congress in 1987, already holds the record as the first and only woman to serve as House speaker. Her age and longevity in leadership has attracted criticism from younger members who say the top leadership team excludes fresh faces and ideas. – READ MORE