Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. – Dylan Thomas

The time is short. There’s always a rush. And if you are a member of Congress, you are always on the clock.

Six years in the Senate. Two years in the House. The cycle is relentless.

Lawmakers are defeated, they retire or resign. Most of them lament that they never accomplished everything they wanted in office.

That’s not because they didn’t try. The political circumstances weren’t right. The issue hadn’t ripened yet. Their proposal got left out on the parliamentary cutting room floor.

But lawmakers always grumble. No matter how long they were in office, there simply wasn’t enough time.

Politicians generally are not shrinking violets. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have gotten into this business. They can be stubborn. Unwilling to be pushed around. Plus, as lawmakers grow older, they are sprinting against the dying of the political light – be it the length of their political terms or time on this mortal coil.

That’s why recent incidents involving 81-year-old Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and 90-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., pose questions about whether age and health should be a factor in someone’s fitness to serve.

How long is too long?

They may be among the most powerful leaders in America. But they are no match for the great equalizers: health and age.

McConnell froze for nearly 20 seconds at the Senate GOP’s weekly press conference recently. Other Republican senators led the Kentucky Republican away before he returned a bit later to field questions from reporters.

Feinstein appeared addled at a recent Senate Appropriations Committee meeting. Feinstein began giving a speech at the meeting – even as the committee was voting on a specific proposal. An aide appeared to try to guide Feinstein.

‘I would like to support a ‘yes’ vote on this. It provides $823 billion…’ said Feinstein before Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., interrupted.

‘Just say ‘aye,’’ coached Murray.

‘OK. Just ‘aye!’’ said Feinstein, with a laugh.

Age stalks 80-year-old President Biden. Republicans routinely question the president’s age and fitness for office – especially after he tripped over a sandbag while handing out diplomas at the Air Force Academy this spring. Mr. Biden also gave meandering remarks last month while meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

‘I think that it’s legitimate to discuss the age of the president who’s running for re-election,’ said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.

To be fair, Lummis also mentioned that former President Trump – now the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination – is not exactly a spring chicken at age 77.

The White House historically dismisses concerns about the age of the current commander in chief.

‘The age comment has been out there,’ said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. ‘And what has this president done? He beat Republicans in 2020. He beat Republicans in 2022.’

As for McConnell, there are stage whispers in the Senate’s marble corridors that the minority leader isn’t the same since missing six weeks earlier this year. McConnell suffered a concussion and cracked ribs after a tumble in the restroom of a Washington, D.C., hotel.

McConnell generally speaks more quietly and with a deep rumble since returning to the Senate after the accident.

‘He should tell us if something bigger is going on,’ said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.

McConnell appeared over the weekend at the annual ‘Fancy Farm Picnic’ in southwestern Kentucky. The fete dates back to the late 19th century. The Bluegrass State’s political royalty from both sides gives speeches and chats with voters.

When McConnell spoke, Democrats in the crowd jeered the minority leader with chants of ‘Retire! Retire!’

McConnell observed this was his 28th appearance at the Fancy Farm soiree.

‘I want to assure you it’s not my last,’ said McConnell. ‘The people of this state have chosen me seven times to do this job. I want you to know how grateful I am.’

However, McConnell has also tripped and fallen on two other occasions this year.

That’s why Senate Republicans are tiptoeing around this delicate question surrounding McConnell, his health and whoever may eventually emerge as the leader of Senate Republicans.

‘I think he’ll know when the time is right,’ said Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., when asked about McConnell’s future.

These health episodes trigger subtle political jockeying among those who could prospectively succeed McConnell as the Senate GOP leader.

The focus is on the ‘three Johns.’ That’s Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. All three have leadership chops. As GOP whip, Thune stepped into the void when McConnell was absent earlier this year. One source noted that before McConnell’s injury, his office handled almost all leadership issues. But even since McConnell’s return, Thune continues to tackle a handful of leadership responsibilities.

Barrasso currently serves as the Republican conference chair, the third-highest ranking GOP slot. Cornyn served as majority whip from 2015 through 2019.

A reporter asked Thune in late July if McConnell should seek the top leadership post in the next Congress.

‘The new Congress is 18 months away,’ replied Thune, pivoting immediately to another subject. ‘I’m trying to figure out how to get the defense authorization (bill) off the floor today.’

Such a response is common for those with leadership aspirations. They want to be talked about as in the running for whenever another leader moves on – for one reason or another. But they don’t want to talk themselves about pushing to get the leadership slot. It’s an artful dance to make yourself part of the conversation – yet simultaneously not appear as though you are shoving someone out the door.

That said, time is undefeated. Nearly half of all senators are now age 67 or older. And the time for all leaders is eventually up, one way or another.

For instance, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., remains in Congress as a rank and file member. But Pelosi ceded the speaker’s gavel in January at age 82. She turned 83 this past March.

‘I believe there should be a criteria of fitness to serve of cognitive testing or cognitive assessment,’ said Dr. Mark Siegel, a medical contributor to Fox. ‘That’s what the senators owe us and that’s what should be done.’

Siegel and others raised that issue after the election of Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., last year. Fetterman struggles to speak and has issues processing audio after a 2022 stroke. He often uses a tablet to communicate or help him digest oral questions. Fetterman took office in January, but almost immediately took medical leave from the Senate for depression.

Despite Fetterman’s issues with audio and speaking, there’s no evidence the senator has cognitive problems.

But here’s the constitutional issue with Siegel’s proposal.

Voters may be concerned about lawmakers who are older or suffer from visible health issues like McConnell and Feinstein. But imposing other qualifications for service may be out of bounds. Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution only lists three requirements for someone to serve in the Senate. Persons must be 30 years of age, a U.S. citizen and live in the state they represent at the time of the election.

The Senate has long seen many members hang around too long.

Former Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., and Thad Cochran, R-Miss., come to mind. Byrd stepped down as majority leader in the late 1980s – yet remained in the Senate until his death in 2010 at age 92. Thurmond was still a senator when he was 100.

Siegel says he counsels people who are older yet healthy to keep working as long as they can.

‘But the problem is that the last person to know that they’re no longer functioning is usually the person themselves,’ said Siegel.

Siegel also said it’s one thing to continue to serve as senator. But it’s another enterprise to shoulder official leadership responsibilities at an advanced age. That’s why Byrd and Pelosi stepped aside.

Before McConnell’s latest episode, multiple senators remarked how he rattled off facts and figures at the closed door lunch without notes.

‘He was at the top of his game,’ said one Republican senator.

However, another GOP senator told Fox McConnell didn’t appear well on the Senate floor the day before he froze.

So it’s hard to say when is when for anyone. But once elected, voters can’t do much about it if someone is infirm or in failing health.

After all, as Dylan Thomas wrote, lawmakers are fighting ‘against the dying of the light’ from the moment they’re sworn in. A six-year term. A two-year term. So much to do. So little time.

And that same mantra applies to the rest of us, too.

Whether we serve in Congress or not.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, announced that a new taxpayer-funded tent city for illegal migrants will be going up in the Big Apple.

Adams announced Monday that Randall’s Island in New York City will be the new spot for the more than 57,000 illegal migrants living in the city that never sleeps.

‘As the number of asylum seekers in our care continues to grow by hundreds every day, stretching our system to its breaking point and beyond, it has become more and more of a Herculean effort to find enough beds every night,’ Adams said in a press release on Monday.

‘We’re grateful to Governor Hochul and New York state for their partnership in opening this new humanitarian relief center and covering the costs, and we need more of the same from all levels of government,’ Adams continued.

‘We will continue to work with the governor and elected officials across the state to address this crisis as New York City continues to do more than any other level of government,’ the mayor said.

Former New York Gov. David Paterson said the migrant crisis in New York City was reaching its ‘tipping point’ in a recent radio interview.

‘I think it’s at a tipping point,’ Paterson, a Democrat, said during a radio interview with business mogul John Catsimatidis on Sunday.

‘Look what happened at the hotels where the hotels were filled up,’ he said. ‘They were trying to get the excess migrants, mostly males, who couldn’t get into the hotels, and they chose to sleep on the streets instead of going to another facility,’ the former governor said.

New York City lawmakers have pleaded for help as migrants have started sleeping on the sidewalks in Midtown Manhattan. Councilwoman Vickie Paladino warned that the surge of illegal migrants is affecting New Yorkers’ quality of life and that the situation is ‘absolutely out of control.’

New York City has more than 50,000 migrants in its shelter system in what has become one of the most publicized migrant crises on the East Coast. Adams recently said that the sanctuary city has ‘run out of room’ for new migrants and even called for a ‘state of emergency’ in the city to battle the crisis.

New York lawmakers announced in June that the city would receive $104.6 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for its Shelter and Services Program.

Fox News Digital’s Jeffery Clark contributed reporting.

A final North Carolina state budget won’t be enacted until September, the House’s top leader said Monday. That could scuttle efforts by Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration for Medicaid expansion to begin in early fall.

House and Senate Republicans are whittling down dozens of outstanding spending and policy issues within a two-year spending plan that was supposed to take effect July 1.

While some big-ticket items like tax cuts and worker raises have been settled, other details remain unresolved. Add travel and vacations by rank-and-file lawmakers and the narrow GOP veto-proof majorities in the General Assembly, and House Speaker Tim Moore said the periods during which formal business can be conducted in Raleigh are limited.

Sen. Ralph Hise, a Mitchell County Republican and one of the chief budget negotiators, told reporters that votes on a budget agreement could happen in two weeks if differences can be worked out in a reasonable time. Any final budget could be vetoed by the Democratic governor, with override votes to follow.

When asked later Monday to describe the chances that a final budget could be carried out by the end of August, Moore replied: ‘Zero.’

‘Just with some absences I know that the Senate has on their side, and with just some of the logistics that have been talked about … you’re talking about a September date for actual passage — signing (the bill) into law and all that,’ Moore said.

A separate law that Cooper signed in March would expand Medicaid to potentially 600,000 low-income adults, but it can’t happen until a state budget law is enacted.

Cooper health Secretary Kody Kinsley unveiled a plan last month by which the expanded coverage could begin Oct. 1 as long as his agency received a formal go-ahead by legislators to accept expansion by Sept. 1. Otherwise, Kinsley said, implementation would be delayed until at least Dec. 1.

Legislative leaders have refused to permit the implementation of expansion without the budget’s passage, as Cooper has sought. But Moore suggested that Sept. 1 wasn’t a hard deadline.

Legislative leaders have provided few details on neither the agreed-upon pay raises for state employees and teachers nor the extent of additional individual income tax rate reductions. Moore said any pay raises would be made retroactive to July 1.

State government has benefitted in recent years from revenue overcollections, giving lawmakers the ability to spend more, borrow less and reduce tax rates.

The Office of State Budget & Management said Monday that government coffers collected $33.5 billion in revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30, or slightly over $3 billion above what had been anticipated to carry out last year’s state budget law. The total was $89 million less than was projected to be collected in a May consensus forecast by the state budget office and General Assembly staff.

Cooper and State Budget Director Kristin Walker have warned that deeper individual income tax cuts considered by GOP legislators could lead to shortfalls that could affect the state’s ability to adequately fund education.

Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger have said this year’s tax agreement contains language allowing deeper rate reductions only if the state reaches certain revenue thresholds. Berger and Moore planned more budget talks early this week, Moore said.

Moore said he still anticipated that legislators in his chamber would return to Raleigh next week to cast override votes on several vetoes that Cooper issued last month. Other non-budget business also could occur, he said.

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A group of nearly 30 House Republicans are pressing Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm over her recently disclosed talks with a Chinese government official ahead of the Biden administration’s decision to tap emergency oil stocks.

In a letter to Granholm sent Monday afternoon, 29 Republicans led by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers expressed concern that the energy secretary privately consulted China National Energy Administration Chairman Zhang Jianhua, a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party, before the White House announced its first Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) release.

According to internal Department of Energy (DOE) calendars obtained by Americans for Public Trust and shared last week with Fox News Digital, Granholm held private calls with Jianhua on Nov. 19, 2021, and two days later on Nov. 21, 2021. On Nov. 23, 2021, the White House announced a release of 50 million barrels of oil from the SPR.

‘We are troubled by recent reports that you, in your official capacity as Secretary of Energy, had multiple conversations with the Chinese Communist Party’s top energy official just days before the Biden administration announced it would release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 2021,’ McMorris Rodgers and the other Republicans wrote.

‘This is concerning given the Department of Energy’s mismanagement of the SPR, which has left our country more vulnerable to energy supply disruptions and strengthened the leverage of our adversaries to use energy as a geopolitical weapon,’ the Republicans continued.

Republicans have repeatedly raised the alarm on the Biden administration’s SPR policy, noting that it has drained the critical emergency stock of crude oil while potentially giving an advantage to adversaries who have built up their reserves in the meantime.

Since November 2021, Biden has ordered the DOE to release a total of about 260 million barrels of oil stored in the SPR to combat high fuel prices hitting American consumers.

The SPR’s level has fallen to about 347.8 million barrels of oil, the lowest level since August 1983, according to Energy Information Administration data released Monday. The current level is roughly 42% lower than its level recorded days prior to the November 2021 release.

The DOE told Fox News Digital that Granholm only held one conversation with Jianhua, a 30-minute call one day before the White House announcement. The calendars reviewed by Fox News Digital do not indicate the Nov. 19, 2021, meeting was canceled.

‘When global supply fell short and prices soared, the Biden administration took decisive action. Secretary Granholm and other Administration leaders organized countries like China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the UK to follow America’s lead on oil releases, bridging the gap and giving American producers time to meet energy demands,’ a DOE spokesperson said in a statement.

‘The goal was to bring relief to families and we delivered — oil prices dropped nearly 10 percent,’ the spokesperson continued.

Gasoline prices skyrocketed after the administration’s SPR releases, hitting an all-time high in June 2022. According to AAA data, gas prices hit $3.83 a gallon Monday, nearly 13% higher than they were a day before Biden announced the first release.

In addition, the Biden administration has sold at least 2 million barrels of oil from the SPR to Unipec, an affiliate of the state-controlled China Petrochemical Corp. Jianhua, who met with Granholm in 2021, served in a leadership role for years at the China Petrochemical Corp., Reuters previously reported.

The first such sale was part of an SPR sale of 20 million barrels awarded to eight companies in September 2021. The other two — both sales for 950,000 barrels of oil — came in April 2022 and July 2022.

‘China now likely controls one of the world’s largest stockpiles of oil, at the expense of American taxpayers and our energy security,’ the Republicans continued in their letter to Granholm on Monday. ‘The Biden administration has helped support China’s national security at the expense of our own security by using our strategic energy supplies to help the Chinese build up their own strategic reserves.’

‘China poses one of the greatest economic, security, and geopolitical threats to the United States, while continuing to be one the world’s worst polluters,’ they added. ‘As a result of this administration’s war on American energy and political abuse of the SPR, Americans have become more vulnerable to true energy and national security emergencies while China has profited.’

As part of its announcement in November 2021, the White House said it was releasing oil from U.S. reserves in conjunction with ‘other major energy consuming nations including China.’

President Biden, though, said in remarks after the announcement that China ‘may do more as well,’ and Granholm told reporters during a separate press briefing that China ‘will make its own announcement.’