Several Republican lawmakers introduced a constitutional amendment to limit the number of terms that Congress members can serve.
Led by Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the proposal would limit House members to three two-year terms and senators to two six-year terms.
In his statement, Mr. Cruz decried the “rise of political careerism in today’s Congress” as contrary to what the nation’s founders wanted.
“Every year, Congress spends billions of dollars on giveaways for the well-connected: Washington insiders get taxpayer money and members of Congress get re-elected, all while the system fails the American people,” he said Monday.
Today my colleagues and I reintroduced a constitutional amendment to impose #TermLimits on Members of Congress. The amendment would limit U.S. senators to two six-year terms and members of the U.S. House of Representatives to three two-year terms. pic.twitter.com/1izmg5EQ6B
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) January 25, 2021
Mr. Norman spoke similarly in a Facebook post, while acknowledging that “it does take a couple of years just to get your feet wet, so to speak.”
“We can obviously debate how many terms are reasonable … but the bottom line is that serving in the House or Senate should be a temporary privilege, not a career choice,” he wrote.
With control of both chambers of Congress in the hands of Democrats, who have historically opposed term-limit laws, the amendment’s chances are slim or worse.
But Mr. Norman said the amendment’s supporters will not be deterred.
“Will this Constitutional amendment go anywhere? Are most politicians really going to vote themselves out of a job down the road? Perhaps not, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try,” he wrote.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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