Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Congress needs term limits

Congress needs term limits

Pool
/ Pool / Getty Images

Originally published by Divided We Fall.

By Congressman Ralph Norman (R-SC)

As we near the midterm elections, the debate on Congressional term limits resurfaces once again. Many bolster their arguments in favor of limits with the claim that incumbents hold power for too long. Those who argue against term limits claim that incumbents are the most qualified for the job and, having served before, are best able to push legislation through.

Let’s begin with the numbers. According to Ballotpedia, 93% of incumbents running for re-election in 2020 won their races. At the beginning of the 117th Congress, the average amount of prior service for each chamber was about 9 years for House members and 11 years for Senators. Although these averages don’t seem high, a large number of members serve for significantly longer.


The Affliction of Endless Incumbency

While many suggest that incumbents are the ones who should stay in government and not be regulated by term limits, the Constitution states otherwise. Our Founding Fathers never wanted career politicians to overrun the government. Instead, they established representation of the people and by the people. Despite this, the presence of career politicians has increased over time, with some Congress members serving as long as 59 years. An example of this from the 117th Congress was Representative Don Young, who had served a total of 49 years before ultimately passing away in office. In order to prevent members of either chamber from serving close to 50 years, there must be new legislation.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

A hypothetical bill, one which would limit members of the House and the Senate to 12 years in service, would drastically change the environment on Capitol Hill. By limiting the tenures of career politicians, there would no longer be such huge gaps in experience between someone who was newly elected and someone who had been in office for an extended time. Members would have more opportunities to serve on committees that they were specifically interested in and have their opinions matter. It would be possible to see more mentoring between members, as legislators sought to maximize their shorter time in office by ensuring that important issues are continuously worked on by many more people.

As it currently stands, there are many members of Congress who hold the belief that they do not need to work with the other political party nor, indeed, anyone whose values differ from theirs. Neither side is to blame for the stark contrast in differing opinions. But rather than working towards understanding each other’s perspective, the unlimited terms that members can be reelected to allow legislators to dismiss opportunities for dialogue and instead, simply wait however long it takes until their side once again has the majority. Term limits would bring a steady flow of new members into Congress — members who would be more inclined to work with a wider range of people, rather than stick to their previous, familiar collaborators.

Term limits would allow more ideas to pass through Congress, as well. The foundation of American democracy is kept firm by representatives in government who truly represent the citizens in their districts. Recognizing their bounded tenures, legislators would shift their focus away from constant re-election and center it back upon being productive in office and carrying out the hopes of their constituents. This way, we would see a move towards bipartisanship within Congress. With more attention paid to the constituents, members would reach across the aisle more often, being less concerned with self-aggrandization and fawning media coverage.

The Physician Must Heal Itself

Robert Yates, the presumed author of Brutus 16, was concerned with the potential disconnect between members of Congress and their constituents back home. When we understand that a position in Congress is not only honorable but also potentially lucrative, the desire to remain in power for as long as possible can actually seem reasonable. That desire to forever be on center stage is precisely why Yates warned that members, “should not be so long in office as to be likely to forget the hand that formed them, or be insensible of their interests. Men long in office are very apt to feel themselves independent [and] to form and pursue interests separate from those who appointed them.”

Today, there is quite a lot of glamour around being a politician. The media loves to pick out the most divisive and well-known political figures to elevate in their headlines. However, Yates understood that the first and foremost role of a public figure needed to be that of a civil servant. Implementing term limits would reduce the capacity of celebrity-seeking demagogues to stir the pot and polarize the public’s opinions. Limits on time in office would assist in keeping politicians more grounded in their work, rather than in their image.

Congress must pass a bill allowing it to set term limits for its members. This can be done without needing to amend the Constitution. The spirit of democracy, the foundation of our great nation, is built upon the recognition by all public officials that their time in power is only momentary. The continuous, collaborative work of government requires the continual transition of power from one person to the next. Legislators must accept that the topics of discussion, issues, and ideals will continue to exist long after any single person’s term in office. America grows stronger when we realize that real progress cannot be made alone.

Read More

U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order as (L-R) U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum look on in the Oval Office of the White House on April 09, 2025 in Washington, DC.

U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order as (L-R) U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum look on in the Oval Office of the White House on April 09, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty Images, Anna Moneymaker

President Trump Invokes Emergency Powers for New Tariffs

In his April 2 executive order on tariffs and previous orders announcing tariffs on Chinese, Canadian, and Mexican imports, President Trump used the National Emergencies Act of 1976 (NEA) and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977.

This raises two important questions: Do the National Emergencies Act and IEEPA allow the President to set tariffs, and is the current economic state actually an emergency? (We also covered some tariff history on our full post here, and here on the projected impact, Trump's rationale, and Congress's response.)

Keep ReadingShow less
Innovative Local Solutions Can Ease America’s Housing Crisis
aerial photography of rural
Photo by Breno Assis on Unsplash

Innovative Local Solutions Can Ease America’s Housing Crisis

Across the country, families are prevented from accessing safe, stable, affordable housing—not by accident, but by design. Decades of exclusionary zoning, racial discrimination, and disinvestment have created a housing system that works well for the wealthy but leaves others behind. Even as federal cuts to public housing programs continue nationwide, powerful, community-rooted efforts are pushing back and offering real, equity-driven solutions led by local voices.

Historically, states like New Jersey show what’s possible when legal advocacy and grassroots organizing come together. In 1975, the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Mount Laurel ruling established that every municipality in the state has a constitutional obligation to provide its fair share of affordable housing. This landmark legal ruling reshaped housing policy and set a national precedent. Today, organizations like Fair Share Housing Center continue to defend and expand this right, ensuring that local governments are prohibited from using zoning laws to exclude working-class families or people of color.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump Welcomes Salvadoran President, Continuing To Collaborate With Far-Right World Leaders

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 14: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador in the Oval Office of the White House April 14, 2025 in Washington, DC.

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump Welcomes Salvadoran President, Continuing To Collaborate With Far-Right World Leaders

WASHINGTON D.C. - President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would try to deport “as many as possible” immigrants or criminals to El Salvador. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele met with Trump at the White House to discuss the ongoing deportations of MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador’s notorious Center for Terrorism Confinement (CETOC).

Trump has now deported 238 individuals to El Salvador under the 1879 Alien Enemies Act without notice or due process of law. President Bukele has agreed to help Trump with his deportation goals and received $6 million from the White House to continue these efforts.

Keep ReadingShow less
Quiet Death of Dissent
woman in black hijab holding white and black printed board
Photo by Justin Essah on Unsplash

Quiet Death of Dissent

There is something particularly American about the way we're dismantling our democracy these days – we are doing it with paperwork. While the world watches our grand political theater, immigration agents are quietly canceling visas, filling out deportation orders, and reshaping the boundaries of acceptable speech without firing a single shot.

I think about Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and Columbia graduate who committed no crime beyond speaking his mind. I think about Rumeysa Ozturk, a doctoral student at Tufts whose academic career hangs by a thread. I think about the estimated 300 international students whose visas are under review or already revoked for daring to participate in First Amendment exercises on campus across the United States. These stories are not just about immigration status but about who is American enough to participate in its democracy and under what conditions.

Keep ReadingShow less