Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and Democrat Rep. David Trone (MD) have launched a bipartisan effort calling for congressional term limits.
In an op-ed for The New York Times, DeSantis and Trone argued that the halls of Congress “shouldn’t be a retirement home.” The two leaders are the co-chairs of a campaign organized by U.S. Term Limits.
The leaders wrote in the opinion piece that while some argue that “congressional elections already serve as de facto term limits — that if voters want to send their senators and representatives home, they can just vote them out,” they noted that “the reality is that incumbents today build up overwhelming advantages, making them extremely difficult to defeat.”
“If term limits are good for the presidency, why not for Congress? After all, members of Congress wield enormous influence over our lives,” they added. “They write our federal laws, control our tax dollars and provide oversight of the executive branch. The concentration of power among career politicians fuels partisanship by empowering lobbyists who profit off longstanding relationships, and deepens public cynicism about government.”
They further suggested that either Congress or states can take action, be it through the creation of a constitutional amendment or through calling a constitutional convention.
In January, Republicans introduced joint legislation that proposes a constitutional amendment for congressional term limits. Under the amendment, U.S. senators would be limited to two six-year terms, while members of the House of Representatives would be limited to three two-year terms. The amendment would take effect “within seven years after the date of its submission by the Congress.”
