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Nina
A. Kohn[/caption]
American political leadership skews decidedly older than the population as a whole. President Donald Trump turned 80 years old on June 14. The median age for senators is nearly 65, and the median age for House of Representatives members is almost 58.
But are those older people in office a sign that the U.S. government is turning into a “gerontocracy” that is giving younger generations short shrift?
No – many older Americans are becoming worse off.
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Naomi Cahn[/caption]
We are experts in elder law who have been following the legal treatment of older Americans for decades. We have observed a series of federal policy changes that will make life harder for many Americans of modest means as they age.
Those policies show why it is wrong to assume that rich and powerful older people will protect all older adults.
Perhaps the most publicized of these policy failures is that the federal government hasn’t taken steps to stave off Social Security benefits cuts.
The program will have to cut the benefits it provides by roughly 22% starting in 2032 unless Congress steps up. That would affect a lot of people: Social Security pays benefits to more than 60 million retired workers, as well as survivor benefits for the spouses of workers who have died and their eligible children.
But instead of taking steps to shore up the program, Congress has sped up that expected moment of reckoning.
A tax break included in the big tax and spending package Trump signed into law in summer 2025 that benefits some older people will actually weaken Social Security for everyone by reducing the tax revenue that funds the program.
Social Security’s revenue is further compromised by the declining number of immigrants in the workforce who contribute to the program through the payroll tax, even though many of them will never receive its benefits. More immigrants departed the U.S. than arrived in 2025 due to the Trump administration’s policies.
These changes will hit some older adults harder than others. Social Security keeps millions more women than men out of poverty, as well as more Blacks and Latinos than whites.
Older adults in need of long-term care also face new risks.
In December, the Trump administration rescinded regulations that would have required nursing homes that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding to meet new minimum staffing standards.
Just as the number of older adults who need long-term care is rising, the White House’s immigration crackdown has threatened the supply of care workers, as they are disproportionately from other countries. This labor shortage will impact older adults receiving care in institutions. But it will likely have an even more significant effect on those hoping to receive care at home, as 1 in 3 home care workers is an immigrant.
In addition, the federal cuts to Medicaid that Trump signed into law in 2025 are expected to make it harder for older adults who require paid caregivers to remain in their own homes.
Federal law requires states to pay for nursing home care for older adults who qualify for Medicaid’s long-term care coverage. But the federal government does not require states to cover the cost of home-based care.
When Medicaid benefits are cut, states need to make up that lost money. Evidence from past Medicaid cuts suggests that services to help older people remain at home are among the first to be cut.
Benefits that many low-income older Americans rely on are facing substantial reductions. The big legislative package Trump signed in 2025 cut federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, through which more than 6 million people 65 or older get benefits that help them buy groceries.
Due to the federal cuts, states – which administer SNAP – will need to absorb more of the program’s costs. The number of people who get benefits is already declining.
In short, although many American political leaders are themselves over 65, programs that millions of older Americans of modest means rely on to stay out of poverty and make sure they can get the care they need are becoming less reliable and providing less support.
Nina A. Kohn is a distinguished scholar in elder law at Syracuse University. Naomi Cahn is a professor of law at the University of Virginia. Distributed by The Conversation and The Associated Press.
