Congress Will Lose More Than 800 Years of Experience

Wall Street Journal: “A tidal wave of retirements, some the easy way (Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Michael McCaul), others the hard way (Sens. John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy), is going to wipe out more than 800 years of combined congressional experience from Capitol Hill next year…”

“The risk with all these lawmakers leaving is: experience. Many of them were here for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the 2008 financial crisis, debt-ceiling squabbles and numerous other episodes when Washington had to rally together to deal with a crisis.”

“On the flip side: Government debt has grown and grown. America has become more polarized. Congress’s stature has shrunk. Maybe it’s time for some new people?”