‘I think the conference ought to be able to be free to choose whoever. There’s no limit on the speaker or the other House leaders,’ Sen. McConnell said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) dismissed the idea of putting term limits on a Senate Republican leader, saying “it’s totally inappropriate.”
“Well, we have term limits now. They’re called elections,” Mr. McConnell
told reporters when asked on March 6 whether he supports term limits for the Senate GOP leader position.
The senator made the comment as he announced his
endorsement of former President Donald Trump for the 2024 White House race after the former president’s sweeping victory in the primaries on Super Tuesday.
“I had a contest myself during my last election as leader,” Mr. McConnell said, referring to the challenge he faced from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) for the GOP Senate leadership in November 2022 following the GOP’s failure to secure a majority for the party in the upper chamber during the midterm elections. Mr. McConnell later defeated the former Florida governor on a 37–10 vote.
Mr. McConnell on Feb. 28
announced his retirement from GOP leadership later this year after nearly two decades holding the position.
He referred to the House, where no term limits are imposed on the speaker, to reinforce his stance on the matter. “I think the conference ought to be able to be free to choose whoever. There’s no limit on the speaker or the other House leaders,” he said. “That won’t be my decision to make, but I think it’s totally inappropriate.”
Mr. McConnell’s comments came after one of the candidates to succeed him as Senate Republican leader, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), promised to endorse term limits for the GOP leader if elected.
“One reason I am running to be the next Republican leader is because I believe the Senate needs more engagement from all of my colleagues, and that includes the opportunity for any member to serve in leadership,” Mr. Cornyn wrote in a post on
X (formerly Twitter). “I will support a conference vote to change the rules and institute term limits for the Republican Leader.”
Except for the GOP leader position, Senate Republicans set six-year term limits for chair and ranking members of any committee.
Term Limits Amendment Proposal
Several GOP lawmakers have pushed term limits without success, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.)
Mr. Cruz has tried multiple times to
introduce a term limits amendment to the U.S. Constitution, saying, “Term limits are critical to fixing what’s wrong with Washington, D.C.” His proposed amendment would limit senators to two six-year terms, or 12 years, and House Representatives to three terms, or six years.
Mr. Scott also suggested 12-year limits for Congress in his 12-point
Rescue American plan and cosponsored term limits legislation.
As of February 2024, 114 members of House Representatives and 21 senators have signed
term limits pledges, supporting a congressional amendment that limits House members to three terms and senators to two terms. However, this falls short of the two-thirds majority required for such an amendment.
Polls found that Americans strongly favor term limits for lawmakers with bipartisan support. A Pew Research
Survey in October 2023 found that 87 percent of voters favored congressional term limits, with 90 percent support from Republicans and 86 percent from Democrats. The poll also found that 79 percent of Americans prefer the maximum age limit for elected officials in Washington.
Casey Burgat, senior governance fellow at the R Street Institute, in 2019
argued before a Senate committee the downsides of capping the number of terms lawmakers can serve. Mr. Burgat said mandating experienced members of Congress to leave the chamber would “decrease Congress’ capacity to do its job in our system of government.”
“Term limits have also been shown to decrease lawmakers’ efforts to develop and advance policies, reduce their willingness to show up for roll-call votes, and discourage [the] creation of the bipartisan coalitions and relationships within the chamber that are often projected by term limit supporters,” Mr. Burgat said.
Meanwhile, Nick Tomboulides, executive director of U.S. Term Limits, argued that the “incumbent advantage” of office-holders “creates barriers to entry for everyday Americans without the connections to fund a campaign.”
“Elections may, in theory, be capable of dethroning incumbents, but that isn’t how it works in the real world. Congressional incumbents have a 98 percent re-election rate,” Mr. Tomboulides said during the same Senate committee
hearing.
“So, term limits is a check on arrogance, it is a check on incumbency and it is a check on power. It is a way to restore political courage while bringing fresh faces and ideas to Washington,” he argued.
Janita Kan contributed to this report.
