Eleanor Holmes Norton says she's seeking re-election amid age questions

Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s nonvoting House delegate, told reporters Tuesday she intends to seek re-election amid mounting questions about her ability to serve in Congress.

“Yeah, sure,” she said when asked about running for re-election. Asked how she would respond to critics who have questioned her abilities at age 87, replied, “I'm going to run. I don't know why anybody would even ask me.”

Multiple recent news reports have surfaced concerns about about Norton, who turns 88 this week and has served as D.C’s delegate since 1991. She has become a less visible presence on the House floor, and her halting engagement has concerned some local officials and activists.

One prominent former aide and longtime confidant, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, told the Washington Post last week, "It’s time to turn things over."

The new scrutiny comes as D.C. faces multiple threats from President Donald Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress, which teed up bills this week focusing on policies in the heavily Democratic city. The District faced major funding shortfall after a March stopgap government funding bill failed to allow the city to spend its updated local budget, prompting a scramble to fill a budget hole city officials estimated at $1 billion.

The Senate approved legislation to fix the shortfall, but the House hasn’t taken it up yet. Asked Tuesday whether it was important for Speaker Mike Johnson to bring that legislation up for a House vote, Norton replied, “No.”

Norton spokesperson Sharon Eliza Nichols said Norton misheard the question and believed reporters were asking about the D.C.-related bills on the House floor this week. Nichols said Norton meant to say those bills aren’t of national importance and were contrary to D.C. residents’ own decisions about their government and believed they shouldn’t have been introduced or brought to the House floor.