Term Limits: Why our Country needs them now more than ever.

Why Do So Many Politicians Have Term Limits, But Not the House of Representatives?

In America, presidents have term limits. Governors do, too. Even many mayors can only serve so long before stepping aside.
But the U.S. House of Representatives; the chamber designed to be closest to the people, has no limit at all.

Put the party loyalty aside for one second and try to make that make sense.

It reminds me of an old quote by Mark Twain:

“My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one’s country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death.”

Politicians are nothing more than the clothing of the country, and many have become ragged, frayed, and ineffective. They are failing to protect the American people, not just through poor leadership, but through the structural loophole that allows career politicians to reign indefinitely.

The Reality: No Term Limits in the House

The U.S. House of Representatives was designed to be the “people’s chamber”, the legislative body most closely tied to the will of voters, with frequent elections every two years. But ironically, this chamber, more than any other, has allowed incumbents to entrench themselves for life.

Unlike the presidency, where two terms is the constitutional maximum, House members can run again and again, often for decades. What results is a political class that is increasingly insulated from the everyday lives and frustrations of their constituents.

They build dynasties. They collect lobbyist money. They use name recognition to drown out challengers. They dodge accountability not by serving well, but by outlasting competition.

Who Has Term Limits?

Let’s look at which public offices do have term limits, and how that compares to Congress:

So the branch of government designed to be the most accountable, the one that touches the lives of Americans most directly, has zero structural guardrails preventing indefinite reelection.

Career Politicians: House Tenure by the Numbers

• Average age of a House member: 58 years
• Average tenure: Over 9 years
• Longest serving member: John Dingell (D-MI), 59 years in the House
• Don Young (R-AK): Served 49 years until his death
• As of 2025: Over 30 House members have served more than 20 years

In many cases, these politicians are functionally unbeatable. Why?

• Gerrymandering creates “safe seats” where incumbents rarely face real opposition.
• Name recognition dominates local media cycles and ballots.
• Party loyalty often overrides local performance.
• Fundraising power gives sitting Representatives a huge edge over newcomers.

Why This Is a Problem

1. Power Consolidation

Without term limits, House members can construct virtually unbreakable political machines. These long-standing incumbents often hold powerful committee seats, determine the legislative calendar, and control funding for reelection campaigns. Over time, they become less representatives and more gatekeepers, deciding not just what gets done, but who gets to play the game.

They also become more beholden to special interests than constituents. According to OpenSecrets.org, the average incumbent receives 88% of all PAC contributions in House races. That’s not a coincidence, it’s a strategy.

2. Stagnant Leadership & Lack of Fresh Ideas

Innovation requires turnover. The longer a politician stays in office, the less likely they are to challenge the status quo. They often fall into what psychologists call “institutional capture”, prioritizing the survival of the system over meaningful reform.

Compare Congress’s slow adoption of digital privacy protections, climate strategies, or AI oversight to the rapid pace of technological and cultural change. When leadership fails to evolve, policy suffers, and the public loses out.

3. Increased Risk of Corruption

It’s simple: the longer someone remains in power, the more opportunities they have to abuse it. Long-serving Representatives build extensive networks of lobbyists, donors, and former staffers-turned-industry-insiders. It’s a revolving door of influence.

The 2020s have already seen multiple congressional scandals involving insider trading, foreign gifts, and unethical fundraising. A representative in office for 30 years has spent most of their adult life in an ecosystem where favors, access, and money shape decision-making.

4. Voter Apathy & Low Turnout

If voters know their district will be won by the same person every cycle, what’s the incentive to show up? In many districts, turnout for congressional races drops below 40%, especially in midterm years. People don’t vote when they don’t think it matters, and incumbency is a big part of that perception.

Why the House Doesn’t Self-Regulate

Here’s the biggest issue: to establish term limits, Congress would have to limit its own power. That’s a hard sell, even when polls show overwhelming public support.

• 75% of Americans support congressional term limits, including 78% of independents, 79% of Republicans, and 69% of Democrats.
• Several proposed amendments (like the U.S. Term Limits amendment) have been introduced in the House and Senate, but they rarely make it out of committee.
• Many long-serving Representatives publicly support “term limits in principle” but oppose any real enforcement mechanism that would apply to them.

It’s a textbook case of conflict of interest: the people who need restraining are the ones writing the rules.

Historical Context: How Did We Get Here?

It wasn’t always this way.

• The Founders’ Vision: The Constitution didn’t include term limits, but the assumption was that public service would be a temporary civic duty, not a lifelong career. George Washington voluntarily stepped down after two terms, setting the precedent for presidential limits.
• 22nd Amendment (1951): After Franklin D. Roosevelt served four terms, Congress passed an amendment to formally limit the presidency to two terms. The goal was to prevent the rise of an American monarch or unaccountable executive.
• State-Level Term Limits Movement (1990s): A wave of reform swept through state legislatures, where citizens passed term limits by referendum. But Congress has resisted all attempts to do the same at the federal level.

Even when term limit amendments reach Congress, they’re usually shelved quietly, ironically, by the very people who would be affected.

Common Counterarguments, and Why They Fall Short

“But we already have term limits. They’re called elections.”

This is the go-to defense for career politicians, but it ignores the reality of incumbency advantage. When gerrymandering creates non-competitive districts and challengers can’t raise matching funds, elections become formalities, not contests.

“We need experienced lawmakers to get things done.”

Experience isn’t inherently bad, but when experience turns into stagnation or corruption, it’s a problem. There’s a difference between wisdom and entitlement. Besides, term limits don’t eliminate experience, they just rotate leadership, encouraging mentorship and adaptation.

“It’s undemocratic to restrict voter choice.”

On the contrary, unchecked incumbency restricts voter choice. When the same person dominates a district for decades, challengers give up, and voters lose real alternatives. Term limits level the playing field.

Proposed Solutions: How to Fix It

1. Pass a Constitutional Amendment for Congressional Term Limits
   • Would require two-thirds of both the House and Senate, plus ratification by 38 states.
   • Could mirror the presidential limit: 4 terms (8 years max) for the House.
2. State-Level Resolutions
   • 19 states have passed resolutions calling for a term-limits convention under Article V.
   • If 34 states call for such a convention, it could bypass Congress entirely.
3. Voluntary Pledges
   • Some reform-minded candidates take a pledge to self-limit their service. While symbolic, it shows good faith and puts pressure on others.
4. Ban Gerrymandering
   • Creating competitive districts makes elections more meaningful and incumbents more accountable.
5. Limit Fundraising Windows
   • Restrict when Representatives can campaign or raise money, weakening the power of permanent campaigning.

Final Thought: Power Must Rotate to Stay Honest

If the presidency can be limited to two, four-year terms, so should the House of Representatives. The very principle of democratic governance rests on the idea that no one holds power indefinitely.

The longer someone sits in office, the less they represent us, and the more they serve a system that rewards staying over changing.

We don’t need to abolish the House. We need to refresh it.

Because the United States isn’t built to be ruled by kings, careerists, or cliques, it’s built to be ruled by the people. And that only works if we ensure the halls of Congress are filled with public servants, not permanent fixtures.

Let power circulate. Let new voices be heard. And let the clothing of the country be repaired before it no longer fits the people it was meant to serve.

Complacency kills, and career politicians have grown to a level of it that is killing America, slowly but surely.

Multiple petitions have already gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures. Maybe they’ve gone quiet, but a fresh wave of support could wake them up. If 75% of Americans already agree, the only thing missing is persistence.

160k+ signatures: https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-set-term-limits-for-u-s-representatives-and-senators?source_location=topics_page

140k+ signatures: https://www.change.org/p/amend-the-constitution-to-add-term-limits-for-senators-representatives-and-governors?source_location=topics_page

There are others I was going to share but they shoot you right to donation before showing their traction, these at least give you the status before asking for donations.

Join us next week when we go over some popular constitutional myths.

Until then, hit the directory and find more related topics and other fun stuff.

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