In keeping with President-elect Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp,” two top conservatives have introduced a constitutional amendment that would impose term limits on members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., have rolled out their plan to impose term limits on members of Congress — two terms for senators, and three terms for House members. The proposal echoes one by Trump during the waning stages of the campaign, which DeSantis believes could help put this goal within reach.
“Once Trump said he was going to do that, he has the megaphone now to be able to really force Congress to take this up. I mean, if he starts going to Twitter and he tells our constituents that Congress needs to be voting on that, guess what? The members are going to hear from their constituents about it,” DeSantis told the Washington Examiner. “So I think it’s changed the dynamic in a way that really gives us a good opportunity to bring it up for a vote and get a strong vote unlike, I think, in years past. I think it’s the best time for term limits that we’ve had in the past 25 years.”
DeSantis said he has been in talks with the Trump transition team about the proposal. However, even with support from Trump and many Republicans, a steep climb lies ahead for those pushing the measure. Outside of a Convention of States, which is supported by some prominent Republicans, two-thirds support from each chamber is needed along with ratification from three-fourths of state legislatures.
“I’m optimistic. I have no illusions that it’s difficult to do constitutional amendments. It just is,” DeSanitis said. “I am more optimistic when you have an issue that 75 percent of the American people support. I’m more optimistic when … you have a president who’s going to push on it, it gives us the chance to have traction. But it’s a tough lift. I’m not sitting here acting like, ‘oh yeah, we got it done within 100 days.’ No, but you have a better chance when it’s on voters’ minds, people like Trump are using the megaphone and Congress is actually having to debate it. Our chances improve dramatically than just keeping it kind of underground and never letting it see the light of day in a committee.”
Trump initially made the call soon after announcing his intention to “drain the swamp” in mid-October, just three weeks before Election Day. House Speaker Paul Ryan also supports the push, saying in November that he has “long been a fan” of limits, but said he wasn’t sure where other members stood on the issue.
While two lawmakers make the push, the measure has opposition. Notably, those who believe term limits would further empower the staff members on Capitol Hill, who are unelected, and lobbyists.
“I don’t see how it could give them more power than they already have,” DeSantis said. “The staff and the lobbyists are already doing way too much now. There are a lot of the committees that are effectively run by the staffers. I think that it would be better. I think you would see more turnover in staff. I think you would make the K Street revolving door for both staff and member … not as lucrative.”
Some also believe that this move would cede any power the legislative branch still holds to the executive branch. However, DeSantis argues that much of the power Congress originally, thanks to the Constitution, held has already been turned over and that more would get done on Capitol Hill in this case.
“Congress has given away so much of its Article 1 authority over the last 30-40 years, and that coincides with the rise of congressional careerism. Really, the opposite is probably true, and I think if you have term limits, you’re going to have more of a reform-minded agenda.”
