Nikki Haley‘s proposed mental competency test could face some challenges in implementation because creating a fair and efficient test without strict metrics would prove difficult and would ultimately target top leaders from both parties.
Haley announced she was running to be the GOP’s nominee for president in 2024, calling for what she believes is necessary generational change. Part of her campaign strategy involved suggesting a mental competency test for politicians age 75 and older, taking a dig at President Joe Biden, who would be 82 if reelected, and former President Donald Trump, who would be 78.
NIKKI HALEY SLAMS BERNIE SANDERS AS THE ‘REASON’ MENTAL COMPETENCY TESTS ARE NEEDED
However, the test would also affect several congressional leaders in Washington, D.C., as well, reigniting debates over who is qualified to lead and at what age is it time for politicians to take a step back.
The average age of members of Congress has climbed since the 1980s, according to an NBC News analysis. For the current 118th Congress, the average age is 57.5 years in the House and 63.9 years in the Senate.
As of now, 36 representatives and 16 senators are 75 years old or older, and many are high-profile leaders within their party: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), 81, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), 81, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), 78, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), 82.
Sanders has blasted Haley’s competency test suggestion as ageism and called the idea “absurd.”
“Trust people. Look at people, and say, you know, this person is competent. This person is not competent,” Sanders said last week. “There are a lot of 40-year-olds out there who ain’t particularly competent. Older people, you know, you look at the individual, I don’t think you make a blanket statement.”
Aging and psychiatric experts warn that drawing a firm line at 75 may not necessarily have the effect that Haley is expecting.
“I’ve encountered individuals in their 80s, 90s, or hundreds who are much more mentally flexible and aware of current world events and the interaction of such things than are some of the 20- and 30- and 40-year-olds that I’ve worked with,” Bennett Blum, an expert in mental capacity and legal issues affecting the elderly, said in an interview with the Hill.
Age is also not a good predictor of health and ability, two things that Biden’s opponents have tried to link together as a way to prove he is unfit for office.
“Aging is not a homogenous, linear experience; there are no milestones or expectations to make comparisons,” Tracey Gendron, executive director of the Virgina Center on Aging, told the outlet. “Sweeping, blanket statements about using age as a barometer for ability is dangerous and misguided.”
While “fluid” intelligence, the ability to process new information, does decline with age, Gendron said the perceived reduction in intelligence disappear “when attentional factors like concentration or perceptual speed are considered.”
Blum said it would be difficult to create an efficient competency test because age and mental competency fluctuates and is not easily defined. Detailed metrics would be required in order to create a fair method of testing.
“Our society would have to figure out what specific cognitive abilities are required, what specific knowledge levels required, what specific ability regarding emotional control is required,” Blum said. “And those have not been enumerated.”
Haley’s campaign has pointed to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, a screening process used to determine if cognitive impairment came from Parkinson’s disease, dementia, or Alzheimer’s, among others. However, psychiatrist Karen Reimers said that tests such as those can result in false positives or negatives and may not be accurate.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“It looks at different cognitive domains. It looks at your attention and concentration, executive function, or the more complex problem solving ability, memory, language, looks at visual spatial skills, calculations,” Reimers told the outlet.
“It doesn’t tell you things that might be really pertinent for somebody’s ability to function,” Reimers continued. “As a politician, you know, things like age-associated experience or wisdom can be very important.”
