The House Democratic Caucus “overwhelmingly” shot down an amendment aimed at placing term limits on chairmanships on Tuesday, two senior Democratic sources told the Washington Examiner.
The proposal, introduced by Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL), would have required a secret ballot vote to provide a waiver for chairs to remain in their roles after three terms, a similar system to what House Republicans currently have in place.
Proponents argued that the move would create opportunity for new voices in the caucus to lead, with the current policy allowing members to remain on as chiefs of their respective panels for an indefinite period of time.
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“I wasn’t surprised by the results,” one Democratic lawmaker told the Washington Examiner. “Obviously, it’s a secret ballot, so it must have been the will of the people, so we will salute smartly and carry on.”
One senior Democratic official said it was a “strong vote” to keep the current system in place.
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Critics of the proposed change argued that seniority and experience can provide value to leading a committee.
“I think many of us are sympathetic with the desire for younger members to move up, but I believe that there are existing mechanisms to challenge chairs that people believe have been there too long,” Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) told the Washington Examiner. “So it’s kind of a hard sell when no one has tried the existing mechanisms and wants to jump right to a new rule that would sort of put a thumb on the scale against sitting chairs. I can just speak for myself — that’s how I saw it sort of sorting out, and I think most of the caucus agreed with that.”
Multiple House Republicans have expressed that their conference’s take may be flawed, with the heads of panels only able to serve three terms as either ranking member or chair of a committee. Some argue that the conference would retain some of its top members longer if their years leading panels in the minority did not count toward term limits.
The House GOP steering committee recently granted a waiver for House Education and Labor Committee ranking member Virginia Foxx (R-NC) to run for the top position on the panel even though she has served three terms. Despite receiving the waiver, the North Carolina Republican could face a challenge from Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) in a race for the role.
