Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and U.S. ambassador to Japan, said he supports a mandatory retirement age of 75 for federal public officials — a limit he said would apply to presidents, Cabinet members, members of Congress and federal judges, and would also constrain his own prospects if he runs for the White House.
Rahm Emanuel, 66, called on Wednesday for a mandatory retirement age of 75 for the president and other senior federal officials, arguing the cap should apply across all branches of government.
“You’re 75 years old: done,” Emanuel said at an event hosted by the Center for American Progress in Washington, according to POLITICO.
Emanuel said the cutoff should extend to the legislative branch, the executive branch — including the Cabinet — and the judiciary, including the Supreme Court and lower federal courts. He framed the idea as a way to force turnover in an era when the age of national leaders has become a recurring political issue.
Under the standard Emanuel described, President Donald Trump, 79, would be ineligible to serve, and former President Joe Biden would not have been able to complete his term, POLITICO reported. Emanuel also said the rule would affect 17 senators and 45 House members who are 75 or older.
Emanuel, seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender, acknowledged the proposal would limit him as well. He would be 69 when sworn in if he were elected in 2028, and 73 at the start of a second term, leaving him unable to serve a full second four-year term under the 75-year cutoff.
“I know where I am in my age. Of course it would apply to me,” Emanuel said, according to POLITICO. “You can’t say ‘here’s what I want to do to change Washington’ — but I get an exemption.”
Emanuel likened the proposed age limit to mandatory retirement rules in other sectors and joked that officials reaching the cap should find something else to do. “Go work on your golf swing, it’s not that good to begin with,” he said.
The proposal comes as public concerns about the age of national leaders have intensified in recent election cycles. Surveys in recent years have consistently found broad support for maximum age limits for federal elected officials and Supreme Court justices.
Emanuel said he would seek to enact the policy through legislation rather than through a constitutional amendment, though legal questions could arise because the Constitution sets minimum ages for federal elected offices but does not impose maximum ages, and gives federal judges lifetime tenure. POLITICO noted the idea could also face political resistance in a Senate with a median age around the mid-60s.
Emanuel also placed the age-limit proposal within a broader set of anti-corruption and ethics changes, including tighter restrictions on lobbying, gifts, and stock trading by public officials. He argued Democrats should make those issues central to their message, saying the current administration has “expanded” the “swamp” — language he used to turn President Trump’s signature campaign phrase back against him.
Emanuel’s choice of 75 echoes a widely discussed 2014 essay by his brother, Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist and former Obama administration adviser, who argued that living past 75 often brings more decline than benefit, POLITICO reported.
