Bipartisan call for term limits in Congress grows during prolonged shutdown

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Scripps News

Posted 6:44 PM, Oct 23, 2025


With the federal government in its 23rd day of a shutdown, Republicans and Democrats remain far apart on how to end the stalemate. But one idea is drawing bipartisan support — congressional term limits.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Maryland Democratic Rep. David Trone joined forces on an opinion piece in the New York Times calling for new limits on how long lawmakers can serve.

"Greater turnover would mean more politicians invested in the interests of their constituents — and the nation as a whole — over those of entrenched and influential advocacy groups," DeSantis and Trone wrote. "It would go a long way toward restoring trust in our political institutions and reducing the influence of money in our elections."

Nick Tomboulides, CEO of the advocacy group U.S. Term Limits, told Scripps News he is pushing for “a three-term limit in the House and a two-term limit in the Senate.”

Read more: https://www.scrippsnews.com/politics/bipartisan-call-for-term-limits-in-congress-grows-during-prolonged-shutdown

[Walleye]

1. I'm sorry, but I would like to weigh in here and say that I think term limits on congressman is a dumb idea

Think how many instant lame ducks we would have. They would spend the whole last year of their limit feathering their nest for when they got out it would take a constitutional amendment and I don’t think it would solve anything.

[drmeow]

2. Term limits are not a good idea

https://effectivegov.uchicago.edu/primers/term-limits

"Key Takeaways from the Research:
Term limits would remove from office high-quality elected officials who the voters like.
Term limits would reduce the incentives of elected officials to work hard and please the voters.
Most incumbent success is attributable to the popularity of the candidates, not the institutional advantages of incumbency.
Empirically, term limits appear to reduce economic growth and increase ideological polarization.
There still are reasons to support term limits, particularly when our elections and governing institutions do not perform as intended, but there may be better solutions to these problems that do not sacrifice our best elected officials or remove their incentives to do a good job."

https://www.britannica.com/procon/congressional-term-limits-debate

"However, the constitutionality of this state action was debated at the Supreme Court in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, and in 1995 the Court agreed in a 5-4 decision in that case that “states cannot impose additional restrictions, such as term limits, on its representatives in the federal government beyond those provided by the Constitution.” As a result of the Supreme Court ruling, congressional term limits may only be imposed via an amendment to the U.S. Constitution."

Ranked choice voting and other election reforms making it easier to vote combined with enforcement of existing restrictions and the passage of additional restrictions on money in politics will be much more effective at fixing what is wrong with our government. Reviving the fairness doctrine would also help.

Edit to add: an upper age restriction on lawmakers would also help.

[Grins]

3. DOA. Once again

Better - an age limit. Age 75 - time’s up!

[Bayard]

4. I would go for term limits on judges,

Especially the Supreme Court.

[Deminpenn]

5. It's a lazy idea

Every 2 or 6 years voters have a chance to "term limit" their House member and Senator by voting them out. The fact that 90+% of House and Senate members are reelected shows Americans aren't sold on term limits.

[Prairie Gates]

6. Pie in the sky nonsense

Some of these journalists should get real jobs.

[Timeflyer]

7. I don't trust anything DeSantis supports.

[maxsolomon]

8. I guess 2 assholes makes it "bipartisan".

David John Trone (born September 21, 1955)[1][2] is an American politician and alcoholic beverage magnate[3] who served as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 6th congressional district from 2019 to 2025. The district includes most of the western third of the state, but the bulk of its population is in the outer northern suburbs of Washington, D.C. Trone founded and co-owns Total Wine & More with his brother, Robert L. Trone, and served as the company's president until December 2016.[4]

In 2016, Trone spent more than $13 million of his own money on his unsuccessful Democratic primary campaign to succeed Chris Van Hollen in Maryland's 8th congressional district, setting a record for the most expensive self-funded House campaign. In 2018, Trone was the Democratic nominee for the 6th district and won the general election to succeed John Delaney. Trone made mental health issues and fighting addiction a top priority during his tenure in Congress, where he co-chaired the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force.

Trone announced his candidacy in the United States Senate in the 2024 election to succeed Ben Cardin. Trone spent over $60 million of his own money to support his campaign.[5] On May 14, 2024, he was defeated in the Democratic primary by Prince George's County executive Angela Alsobrooks.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Trone