I found this paragraph very relevant:
Not everyone agrees with that assessment. Sherwood L. Boehlert, the upstate New York Republican who until last year was chairman of the House Science Committee, said that what citizens should expect from their elected representatives is not knowledge of science per se, but rather “an ability to reach out to experts in any given field and then do what is oftentimes hard for elected officials to do, listen instead of talk.”
What we need is not people who are necessarily educated in all fields, but someone who understands science in general: understands how it works, how to analyze evidence, how to think critically, and how to listen to people who are experts in areas where they are not.
Most people in Congress are of a businessman type. They don't care about the right answer, they care about what answer will increase their approval rating and get the re-elected.