Congressional Term Limits for Representatives and Senators

In the early years of the Congress, there was no need for congressional term limits due to frequent turnover, perhaps due in part to long travel times. Today, virtually all elected representatives dislike any limits to their tenure, feeling that their years of experience are valuable and that enforced retirement from office is a waste.

The People today generally like the concept of congressional term limits for Representatives and Senators, perhaps believing the it is much harder for Oligarchs to corrupt a moving target. The Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1781, established limits for the delegates to the Continental Congress, mandating in Article V that “no person shall be capable of being a delegate for more than three years in any term of six years.” The People enforced limits in 21 States, of which 6 managed to nullify the limits leaving 15 States today.

In the 1990’s 22 States set congressional term limits for their representatives. However, in 1995, the Supreme Court’s five-to-four decision (Term Limits v. Thornton) determined that states do not have the authority to limit the terms of their Congresspersons. In the 22nd Amendment, Congress set a two-term limit for the of U.S. President. Duplicitously, Congress condones limits for others but not themselves. The People have a right to set term limits for Congress. An example would be a combined maximum of ten years in the House and Senate.

Unless there had been a credible prior evaluation of this issue, it is probable that the IQA will decide that there will be an Advisory Initiative to determine what Congressional Term Limits the People want, then the IQA will chose the best candidate Direct Constitutional Initiative to implement the People’s will.