Mike Parker: Time to seriously consider term limits for elected officials
What do Chuck Grassley, Ed Markey, Ron Wyden, Chuck Shumer, Hal Rogers, Chris Smith, Steny Hoyer, Dick Durbin, Marcy Kaptur, and Mitch McConnell all have in common? They are the 10 longest serving members of Congress – and each one has served 40 years or more in the U.S. House or U.S. Senate.
A Pew Research Center survey found that 87 percent of Americans surveyed favored term limits. Democrats and Republicans polled supported term limits in equal numbers. Sen. Grassley (R-IA) has served continuously from 1975 through the present. Sen. Markey (D-MA) has served 48 years, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has served 44 years. McConnell is the relative newcomer to Congress among the old guard, serving for 40 years since 1985.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives serve two-year terms, and U.S. Senators serve six-year terms. All those serving in Congress are eligible for re-election indefinitely. As of 2023, the average U.S. House member has served an average of 8.5 years, according to Thomas Mosher of the Alliance for Citizen Engagement. According to the same analysis, U.S. Senators served an average term of 11.2 years.
For most members of Congress, a provision providing for term limits would not affect most members. However, term limits would prevent those serving in office from becoming career politicians.
The case for congressional term limits centers on the following arguments. First, term limits motivate politicians to get more done while in office. Members of Congress often avoid taking immediate action on hot-button issues like immigration and healthcare because they know those issues drive voters to the polls. Proponents of term limits argue that congressional term limits would help shift the focus of lawmakers from winning re-election to creating effective, long-term policy solutions.
Secondly, Congressional turnover eliminates the incumbent funding advantage. Nick Tomboulides of the advocacy group U.S. Term Limits said that 97 percent of congressional incumbents are reelected. In the 2022 election cycle, 100 percent of Senate incumbents won reelection.
Thirdly, term limits reduce careerism in politics. The current system of potential indefinite reelection means that once a person holds office, that person can run repeatedly for reelection. After a while, the desire to stay in office becomes more important than serving the public interest. Career politicians have a vested interest in keeping division stirred up in the citizenry.
Fourthly, Congressional term limits have widespread support. As I said earlier, 87 percent of those surveyed support term limits for members of the House and Senate. In fact, on December 5, 2024, the North Carolina General Assembly ratified HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 151 calling for a convention of the states to consider an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to limits the terms of U.S. House and U.S. Senate members.
This issue is not new. Thomas Jefferson had some keen observations about the need to rotate those who hold governmental power. In a letter to Sameul Adam on February 26, 1800, Jefferson wrote:
“A government by representatives, elected by the people at short periods was our object, and our maxim at that day was ‘where annual election ends, tyranny begins.’”
Jefferson had previously addressed this issue in a letter to Tenche Cox dated May 21, 1799:
“Offices are as acceptable here as elsewhere, and when once a man has cast a longing eye on them, a rottenness begins in his conduct.”
He added in a letter to James Madison on December 20, 1787:
“The second feature I dislike, and greatly dislike, is the abandonment in every instance of the necessity of rotation in office, and most particularly in the case of the President.”
When our government was first established, one of the bedrock principles is that citizens would serve for a limited time and then be returned to the status of ordinary citizen. None of the founders believe in the “career politicians” that we too often have today.
Term limits would effectively prevent those who serve the public from getting out of touch with their constituents. I think we should have a set number of terms that anyone can serve in a specific office before returning to the rank of regular citizen. If voters want to return the person to office, the person can run again after a break in service.
Most importantly, this approach would do much to restore the ideal of public service for those in elective office.
Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
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