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Title: Term Limits

Original CoS Document (slug): [[https://conventionofstates.com/term-limits-3|term-limits-3]]

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Created: 2023-08-17 20:39:30

Updated: 2025-02-21 15:06:27

Published: 2023-08-17 01:00:00

Converted: 2025-04-14T21:26:29.422491828


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The Constitution\\
Article 1, Section 2, in part: The House of Representatives shall be composed\\
of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and\\
the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors\\
of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. No Person shall be a\\
Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty-five Years\\
and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when\\
elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.\\
Article 1, Section 3, in part: The Senate of the United States shall be composed\\
of two Senators from each State, [chosen by the Legislature thereof,*] for six\\
Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. No Person shall be a Senator\\
who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years and been nine Years a\\
Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant\\
of that State for which he shall be chosen.\\
*Changed by section 1 of the Seventeenth Amendment.

\\
Why there are no Term Limits\\
As of the end of the twentieth century, there was no constitutional limit to the\\
number of terms that members of the House may serve but limiting the\\
number of terms for House members had become an important political issue\\
in the 1990s.\\
Those who favored term limits argued that representatives must spend so\\
much time running and raising funds for reelection that they might be too\\
willing to go along with the political interests of the majority. Supporters\\
insisted that term limits would ensure that the membership of the House would regularly change, and this steady turnover would foster new ideas and\\
help speed up its slow moving, bureaucratic pace.\\
Those who opposed term limits argued that the responsiveness of the House to\\
the people’s will is its great strength. They believed that representatives who\\
have served for several terms bring valuable experience to the institution.\\
Most important, they pointed out that term limits would keep many well-\\
qualified, popular representatives from being elected again, even though the\\
voters in their districts may have wanted them to remain in office.\\
In 1995, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-to-4 decision that no state may limit\\
the number of terms to which its voters may elect members to congress. This\\
decision indicated that an amendment to the Constitution may be required in\\
order to limit congressional terms. (The Constitution and its Amendments,\\
Volume 1, Newman, 1999)\\
Reasons for Term Limits\\
The most common argument against term limits goes something like this:\\
&quot;We already have term limits. They&#39;re called elections.&quot; The primary case\\
against term limits is that, indeed, our elected officials in the House and\\
Senate must face their constituents every two years or every six years and get\\
their approval.\\
Imposing term limits, opponents argue, would remove the power from voters\\
in favor of an arbitrary law. For example, a popular lawmaker seen by her\\
constituents as being effective and influential would want to re-elect her to\\
Congress - but could be barred from doing so by a term-limit law. (The\\
Debate over Term Limits, Tom Murse, January 2019)\\
\\
Senate and House Members at Risk\\
One of the tenets in the proposed Convention of States is the implementation\\
of term limits for Congress. The following summary is based on proposed\\
term limits of 10, 12, and 16 years for the Senate and House of\\
Representatives.\\
In the Senate; 35 Senators would meet the term limit of 10 years, 27 Senators\\
would meet the term limit of 12 years, and 20 Senators would meet the term\\
limit of 16 years. A total of 19 Democrats and 16 Republicans would be\\
affected at the 10-year term.\\
In the House; 110 Representatives would meet the term limit of 10 years, 89\\
Representatives would meet the term limit of 12 years, and 56 Representatives\\
would meet the term limit of 16 years. A total of 69 Democrats and 41\\
Republicans would be affected at the 10-year term limit.\\
The Federalist Papers #63\\
The importance of term limits can best be described by the following text in\\
The Federalist Papers #63: Madison, The Senate Continued.\\
‘In answer to all these arguments, suggested by reason, illustrated by\\
examples, and enforced by our own experience, the jealous adversary of the\\
Constitution will probably content himself with repeating, that a senate\\
appointed not immediately by the people, and for the term of six years, must\\
gradually acquire a dangerous preeminence in the government, and finally\\
transform it into a tyrannical aristocracy.’\\
‘To this general answer, the general reply ought to be sufficient, that liberty\\
may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as by the abuses of power;\\
that there are numerous instances of former, rather than the latter, are\\
\\
apparently most to be apprehended by the United States. But a more\\
particular reply may be given.’\\
‘Before such a revolution can be affected, the Senate, it is to be observed, must\\
in the first place corrupt itself; must next corrupt the State legislatures; must\\
then corrupt the House of Representatives; and must finally corrupt the\\
people at large. It is evident that the Senate must be first corrupted before it\\
can attempt an establishment of tyranny. Without corrupting the State\\
legislatures, it cannot prosecute the attempt, because the periodical change of\\
members would otherwise regenerate the whole body. Without exerting the\\
means of corruption with equal success on the House of Representatives, the\\
opposition of that coequal branch of the government would inevitably defeat\\
the attempt; and without corrupting the people themselves, a succession of\\
new representatives would speedily restore all things to their pristine order. Is\\
there any man who can seriously persuade himself that the proposed Senate\\
can, by any possible means within the compass of human address, arrive at\\
the object of a lawless ambition, though all these obstructions?’\\
This was written at the time the Senate was elected by the State Legislatures.\\
The Seventeenth Amendment changed the process to an election by the people\\
of the individual states. The same concerns for no term limits would still apply.