J.L. in Los Angeles, CA, asks: I just got into a debate with a friend (from Kentucky, who "can't stand McConnell. Or Trump. Or Biden. Or Pelosi.") about congressional term limits. After all, we have them for the president. I reminded him of the impracticality of expecting a Constitutional amendment from a bunch of folks essentially voting themselves out of a job, but he said it would still be a good idea if it were possible. Assuming it were, in fact, possible to limit the number of terms a senator or representative could serve in Congress, would such a thing be a good idea or a bad idea? And if a good idea, how many terms for a senator and how many for a representative?
It would be a bad idea. Full stop. Folks who advocate term limits generally have a vague sense that it would be "better," but usually struggle to articulate how, or why. And, in general, simplistic solutions (like term limits) to complex problems (make Congress work better) are silly and facile.
Let's start by considering presidential term limits. Only five men—Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama—have ever been subject to the limits. Ike and Ronnie were too ill to serve a third term, and Bush was too unpopular to be reelected. So, the Twenty-Second Amendment has, at very most, forestalled a third Clinton term and a third Obama term (assuming they were interested, and could have been reelected). Many people do not like those two men, but did blocking them really benefit the country in any clear way? If the people wanted them for another four years, and they wanted to serve, why not have that option be on the table?
And that's just the first argument against term limits—that they are undemocratic, and place limits on voters. A second argument is that "fresh faces" are not always good, and "old, entrenched members" are not always bad. Consider, for example, that Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Reps. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) are all in their first terms right now. Putting their politics aside, is Congress a more effective or responsible place because of their presence? Meanwhile, it actually takes time to learn how to be an effective member of Congress, particularly if someone is going to serve on an important and highly technical committee, like Foreign Relations or Armed Services. There are certainly members like Jim Traficant or Charles Rangel who become entrenched and corrupt. But there are also members who learn the ropes and then perform brilliant service for their constituents and/or for the country. Think Sam Rayburn, John C. Stennis, Robert Taft, J. William Fulbright, Henry Clay, Bob Dole, Carl Vinson, Ted Kennedy, or Barbara Mikulski.
Finally, remember the law of unintended consequences. If it was no longer viable for members of Congress to truly learn their jobs and to become experts, then that vacuum would be filled by bureaucrats and lobbyists, who would end up writing most of the legislation, since only they would have the necessary background. Further, if service in Congress was only a chapter in someone's career, and had a hard and fast expiration date, then many members would spend their time doing whatever needed to score a plum gig after leaving (yes, I can try to ram that bill through, Mr. Musk), and would be almost totally unaccountable to their constituents during their final, lame-duck term.