Seven Senate Democrats and Independent Angus King of Maine have come under fire for joining Republicans to pass the Budget bill to reopen the Federal Government, and end the Government Shutdown of 42 days.
Two of these eight Senators—Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois and New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen—are retiring at the end of 2026.
Durbin will be 82 at the end of his term, having served 30 years in the Senate, including times as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, and an additional 14 years in the House of Representatives.
Shaheen will be 80 shortly after leaving office after 18 years in the Senate, and an earlier six years as Governor of New Hampshire.
Three of these eight Senators—John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada—face election in 2028.
Fetterman is 56, earlier was Lieutenant Governor of his state, and is in his first term in the Senate, with a reputation of being an outlier, unpredictable and controversial in his utterances and actions.
Hassan is 67, in second term in the Senate, and former governor of her state.
Cortez Masto is 61, in her second term in the Senate, and former Attorney General of her state.
The remaining three Senators—Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Angus King of Maine—do not face voters again until 2030.
Rosen is 68, in her second term in the Senate, and served one term in the House of Representatives.
Kaine is 67, in his third term in the US Senate, after having served earlier as Governor and Lieutenant Governor of his state, and also, Mayor of Richmond. Most notably, he also was the Vice Presidential nominee for Hillary Clinton in the Presidential Election of 2016.
King is 81, in his third term in the Senate, and former governor of Maine. He is a political Independent, who caucuses with the Democrats.
This group of Senators is generally termed as “moderate”, and they are gaining a lot of criticism, for what is seen as “caving in” to the Republicans, with no certainty that any action will be taken regarding health care coverage for millions of Americans.
It is clear that a new generation of leadership is needed, as by the time the term ends for six of these eight Senators, they will be in their 70s and 80s, with the only exceptions being Fetterman and Cortez Masto.