GOP pushes for constitutional amendment on federal term limits

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A trio of Republican senators has revived the traditional remedy for dealing with an elected government reluctant to leave: Impose term limits. Term limits date from the days of the Colonies and have had mixed results. Often, the individual in office matters less than the continuation of party control. Still, at least 36 states have some sort of limits, usually on governors; at least 15 limit legislatures. On the federal level, there is a limit on the number of terms the president can serve but none on lawmakers’ terms.

Despite their history, the effectiveness of term limits is unclear. Many argue that limits strengthen staff and create a powerful, long-lasting government of appointed officials. Some contend that they actually weaken legislators since they have less time to get up to speed on key issues.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) introduced the current proposed constitutional amendment that would limit congressmen to no more than three terms and senators to no more than two. The measure is supported by fellow Republicans Sens. Tom Coburn, of Oklahoma; Kay Bailey Hutchison, of Texas (now in her third term); and Sam Brownback, of Kansas.

Any such action is still a long way off. The measure requires two-thirds approval in each house then must be ratified by three-quarters of the states, a process that could take years, if ever.

The new proposal echoes a 1990s GOP proposal that never got anywhere even though Republicans won control of Congress in 1994. With Democrats now in charge, passage by two-thirds is even less likely.
Still, the idea is one that traditionally is pushed in some quarters as an antidote to a stagnant federal government that has difficulty coping with change.

“Americans know real change in Washington will never happen until we end the era of permanent politicians,” DeMint said in a prepared statement. “As long as members have the chance to spend their lives in Washington, their interests will always skew toward spending taxpayer dollars to buy off special interests, covering over corruption in the bureaucracy, fundraising, relationship building among lobbyists, and trading favors for pork – in short, amassing their own power.”

The idea drew immediate and predictable support from U.S. Term Limits, a nonprofit working to impose such limits on federal officeholders.

‘With Congressional term limits, Washington could be cleaned up; with new generations of politicians who are closer to the people,” Philip Blumel, president of the group, said in an e-mail statement. “They will spend less time getting reelected and more time attending to the work of the American people.”

-- Michael Muskal
Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal