Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Friday he favors term limits for members of Congress, suggesting 12-year terms for members of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate and hinting the same time frame could extend to members of the federal judiciary.
The 2016 GOP presidential candidate said in New Hampshire he’s kind of self-imposed term limits on himself, pointing out that he’s never been in an elected position for more than 10 years.
“To me, I think in any job — not just in government — about a decade’s about as much as you can do in [the] exact same position before you start to become complacent,” Mr. Walker said in response to a question at a “Politics and Eggs” event at St. Anselm College in Manchester. “It’s even more true in government … people start lookin’ over their shoulders instead of lookin’ ahead.”
He pointed to the two-term limit on U.S. presidents and said, “I’d even accommodate, say, let’s make it 12 so that the U.S. Senate and the House are consistent amongst each other.”
“It also makes sense not just for the House and the Senate — if the president’s term limited, if the House and the Senate members were ever to be term limited, which I would support, say, at 12 years — I would apply [that] same standard to members of the federal judiciary,” he said. “Why not say it’s lifetime so it’s not elected or anything like that, but limit it to 12 years as well and then open the door for somebody else to be appointed?”
“Again, I think it’s one of those things where people would stay true to their principles, and it’s really what our founders thought about,” he said, pointing out that George Washington could have been the “king” or “president for life” but instead chose to go back to Mount Vernon after his time in office.
The United States’ first president had the foresight not just for the time, Mr. Walker said, “but for a vision for this country to say no man or no woman someday should ever be in there indefinitely.”
“They should serve the people and then go back home and let somebody else step up and take on that task. I think that makes sense for anybody in federal office,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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