Revisiting Term Limits with Cruz-Norman Proposal
By Maria Fotopoulos
Congressman Andy Ogles (R-Tenn) proposed modifying the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to allow President Trump to run for another term. Currently, a president may not serve more than two terms. Given the high threshold for passing a Constitutional amendment, the likelihood of this happening would seem to be zero. And if it were to pass and Trump were to win a third term, he would be 86 years old by the end of that!
So a three-term Trump presidency is not a real concern, but the number of U.S. Representatives and Senators who have been in the House and Senate for YEARS because there are no term limits in Congress IS a real concern.
Term limits for Congress have been discussed before, with legislation proposed, but no changes have been made to put an end to the D.C. creatures known as career politicians. That said, with the Trump administration moving fast and furiously on multiple fronts, hopefully, term limits are among the many priorities. Currently, joint resolutions calling for congressional term limits have been introduced in the Senate and the House by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), respectively. It’s time that term-limit legislation finally becomes law.
U.S. House Representatives are elected for a two-year period, and U.S. Senators for six-year terms. Cruz-Norman proposelimiting U.S. Senators to two six-year terms and members of the U.S. House of Representatives to three two-year terms. So the longest one person could serve in Congress would be 18 years.
Focusing on term limits is a reasonable and fair approach. Assuming a person served both in the House and Senate for the full periods, 18 years is a long enough time to have impact.
The cases of U.S. senators and representatives remaining in office well past their expiration dates are numerous. Most recently, the sad story of Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) sparked discussion on both term limits and cognitive testing for elected officials. Granger, 81, served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 28 years (Jan. 3, 1997 to Jan. 3, 2025). She was MIA from Washington, D.C., from the end of July 2024 to mid-November when she returned for an event honoring her. She was not present for about 54 percent of the votes in the House.
Granger was reported living in a retirement community that specializes in memory care. Granger’s son said his mother’s decline had been “very rapid and very difficult.”
The story echoed the last months of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who served in the U.S. Senate for 31 years (Nov. 4, 1992 to Sept. 29, 2023). While not in assisted living, the Senate offices essentially doubled as such for Sen. Feinstein. After missing 91 floor votes during a three-month absence from D.C. due to shingles, Feinstein returned to her job in May 2023 in a wheelchair, looking horribly sick and diminished, somewhat confused when speaking and being managed by a daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Feinstein died a few months later at 90.
Also serving until death, Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) was a U.S. Representative from 1997 to 2024 (27 years). He died August 21, 2024 at the age of 87.
In the U.S. Senate for 40 years (since 1985), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has shown public signs of mental decline, including occasions where he has completely frozen. The Sacramento Bee compiled a timeline of his many health issues in recent years. Most recently, McConnell fell and is in a wheelchair. McConnell (finally) has said he won’t seek re-election in 2026.
In other news of the elderly Congress members, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), age 81, recently tumbled on Capitol Hill. She fell on the staircase between the Capitol’s second and third floors following the House of Representatives’ kickoff meeting at the start of this year. ABC reporter John Parkinson was at the scene, which he described as: “Lots of blood, but officer tells me she’s okay as press is cleared from area. She is conscious/ talking.”
The list of members of Congress who are in the octogenarian zone, or close, as well as one senator who has passed age 90, includes Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), 2011-current (14 years), 79; Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), 2003-current (22 years), 83; Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), 1992-current (33 years), 84; Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), 1996-current (29 years), 83; Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), 1997-current (28 years), 80;
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), 1981-current (Senate) / 1975-1981 (House) (50 years), 91; Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), 1981-current (44 years), 85; Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), 2013-current (12 years), 80;
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), 2013-current (Senate) / 1976-2013 (House) (49 years), 78; Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), 1985-current (40 years), 83; Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), 1987-current (38 years), 84;
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), 2009-current (16 years), 80; Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), 1981-current (44 years), 87;
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), 2007-current (Senate) / 1991-2007 (House) (34 years), 82; Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), 1991-current (34 years), 86; and Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), 2011-current (14 years), 82.
Rep. Grace Napolitano (88) ended her 26-year career representing California on January 3, 2025.
One explanation why some of our elderly elected officials remain in office often for decades may be that they are in a fully delusional state of mind. That delusion may be multi-layered. They may believe they are “entitled” to remain in office. Or, they may think they still are competent to do their jobs – and no one near them is telling them otherwise (as the folks near them have financial incentive to not be truthful).
Some may be immersed in the power and wealth they have acquired by way of their elected office – and want to retain it – with the idea of “public service” long gone (or maybe never was part of their makeup). Or, they may very simply be experiencing cognitive loss of varying degrees, and their staff and handlers are “covering” for them.
More politicians should consider the words of former President Jimmy Carter, who said he was looking forward to being “citizen Carter” after leaving the White House. The idea of leaving public service in due time is a concept lost on too many elected officials, who have turned their offices into the conduits for great wealth and enrichment to themselves. One Democrat in December did announce her retirement, so she could “set a better example.” Sixty-eight-year-old Rep. Annie Juster (D-N.H.) ended her time in the House, where she’d served since Jan. 3, 2013, on Jan. 3, 2025.
Of course, if more elected officials can’t make the right choices (which seems to be the situation), imposed term limits should eliminate the problems created by a small but powerful group of essentially permanent senators and representatives.
Maria Fotopoulos writes about the connection between overpopulation and biodiversity loss, and from time to time other topics that confound her.
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