Who needs term limits?
We got them this year without a law.
Term limits are supposed to ensure turnover among elected
officials, breaking the power of a few bosses and bringing in new legislators attuned
to the popular will. They don’t exist at
the federal level, and the Maine version needs a truth-in-labeling review.
This year, without any formal requirement to retire members
of Congress, voters produced 100 new faces in the House of Representatives and
10 new senators, where the Republicans gained seats.
The Democrats picked up 40 House seats, resulting in a shift
of party control. President Trump’s
waning popularity in suburban districts gets much of the credit. To be fair, the president’s party historically
loses some House seats, when candidates lack the presidential candidate’s
coattails. But this setback was bigger
than usual.
Many senior GOP House members decided not to seek
reelection. Some were obviously unhappy about
life with Trump. Others, finished being
committee chairs, opted to cash in on their experience. The political rise of women, as candidates and
voters, led to House-cleaning.
The model for term limits was George Washington who gave up
the presidency after two terms, though he would surely have been able to be
reelected.
Washington’s precedent was the unwritten term limit for the
president until Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times. That prompted a constitutional amendment
limiting the president to two terms. No
other limits were adopted, even for the vice president.
The argument against term limits is that officials become
experts on issues and on how government works, when they hold office longer. Otherwise, short-termers might be open to influence
by bureaucrats or lobbyists.
In practice, legislators leave the details of lawmaking to
bureaucrats and are open to influence by lobbyists who contribute major funding
to their campaigns. The promised
benefits of holding office for long terms appear to work better in theory than
in reality.
Political courage suffers when an official focuses on political
survival. Look at GOP Senators Bob
Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona, the two most outspoken critics
of their party’s president. They could
only challenge President Trump, because they were not seeking reelection this
year.
There is no chance the necessary constitutional amendment to
make term limits the general rule would be adopted. That would require the consent of the very
members of Congress whose terms would be affected.
House Republicans provide a partial solution. They limit members to six years serving as a committee
leader. Then, each must cede the seat to
another Republican. No law is required for
a party to set such a rule for its own members.
One result is that, after a chair’s term ends, he or she may
be reluctant to fall back into the ranks.
Instead, they often retire and take a job where they can use what they
have learned in government. Though
turning government service into personal profit is less than ideal, it does ensure
legislative change.
Concerns about Nancy Pelosi as House Democratic Leader or Mitch
McConnell as Senate Republican Leader could be eliminated if they were subject
to similar term limits. However
experienced they are, they would be forced to allow younger people to learn
about leadership.
The effort to replace Pelosi this year has fallen
short. Some new Democratic members, who
do not back her, are likely to be needed to put her over the top when the full
House votes in January. Second District
Rep. Jared Golden and his anti-Pelosi allies could offer their support in
return for a deal on leadership term limits.
Change would also result from bringing all congressional districts
down to be as close as possible to equal population. Seats can be added by Congress itself,
something it has not done for a century.
There would be roughly 100 new faces in the House.
Today’s leaders hold on thanks to the reliable support of
their long-term colleagues. An enlarged and
redistricted House could eliminate many of today’s safe seats. With more elected officials seeking top
roles, leadership limits become possible.
So, even without formal term limits, the parties can make them happen.
In Maine, a person is limited to only eight years as a House
or Senate member. But they can then jump
to the other house and back again endlessly and some do. After two terms, a governor can take a term
off and run again, as Gov. LePage now threatens.
Maine law makes a mockery of state term limits. The voters could fix this sham.
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