Term Limits and the People who Killed Them
Although Republicans introduce bills every term and overwhelmingly more often than Democrats do, Judiciary Committee Chairs from BOTH parties let them wither.
Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism
Like some kind of congressman? (Tale as old as time)
—Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero”
In every Congressional term for at least the last 30 years, members of the House and Senate have submitted proposals to amend the Constitution with term limits for Congress. All of these proposals have been assigned to the Judiciary Committee of the respective chamber, after which time they have been suppressed due to low priority status.
I will champion a Term Limit Amendment that prevents politicians from serving more than two terms in the Senate and three terms in the House.
I support a Congressional Stock Trading Ban that prevents people like Nancy Pelosi from being worth $114 MILLION with a federal salary of $140k.
I support Civil Service Reform, which includes term limits for government bureaucrats, and more importantly bans elected officials and bureaucrats from working for lobbying firms after leaving government employment.
The following list includes the chairs of the Judiciary Committee for the past 30 years, as well as their time served in any elected office at the time that they killed term-limit legislation, and finally the total number of years in public office.
HOUSE
1995-2001 Henry Hyde (R); 28 yrs ; 40 yrs total
2001-2007 Jim Sensenbrenner (R); 32 yrs; 52 yrs total
2007-2011 John Conyers (D); 42 yrs; 53 yrs total
2011-2013 Lamar Smith (R); 30 yrs; 38 yrs total
2013-2019 Bob Goodlatte (R); 20 yrs; 26 yrs total
2019-2023 Jerrold Nadler (D); 42 yrs; 46 yrs and counting
2023- Jim Jordan (R); 22 yrs and counting (Do we honestly think he’ll prioritize it?)
SENATE
1987-1995 Joe Biden (D); 14 yrs; 46 yrs and counting
1995-2001 Orrin Hatch (R); 18 yrs; 42 yrs total
2001-2003 Patrick Leahy (D); 26 yrs; 48 yrs total
2003-2005 Orrin Hatch (R); 26 yrs; 42 yrs total
2007-2015 Patrick Leahy (D); 32 yrs; 48 yrs total
2015-2019 Chuck Grassley (R); 56 yrs; 64 yrs and counting
2019-2021 Lindsey Graham (R); 26 yrs; 30 yrs and counting
2021- Dick Durbin (D); 38 yrs; 40 yrs and counting