TERM LIMITS

Problem

Congress was designed to reflect the people, rotate leadership, and stay accountable.

Instead, decades-long incumbency and donor-driven politics have turned seats into lifelong careers.

The consequences:

• Over 90 percent of House incumbents are reelected every cycle.

• Nearly 90 percent of sitting Senators win reelection.

• Competitive elections are disappearing.

• Median American age: 38
  Median Senator age: ~65
  Median House age: ~58

• Millennials and Gen Z are nearly half the population but hold fewer than 5% of congressional seats.

• Lobbyists build decades-long access pipelines to the same lawmakers.

• Legislators drift away from working-class reality the longer they serve

Public opinion is overwhelmingly clear:

Around 75 percent of Americans support congressional term limits.

A healthy democracy cannot survive stagnant leadership, donor capture, or locked-in incumbency.

Solutions

1. Term limits for House and Senate

• Cap House service at 12 years (six two-year terms)

• Cap Senate service at 12 years (two six-year terms)

Impact: Creates rotation, curbs careerism, and keeps leadership grounded.

2. Break congressional power monopolies

• Reform seniority systems

• Rotate committee chairs and leadership assignments on a fixed schedule.

Impact: Prevents entrenched power brokers from controlling committees for decades.

3. Make serving in Congress accessible

• Public campaign financing

• Paid internships and staff pipelines from working-class communities

• Income protection for candidates who must take time away from their jobs to campaign

• Remove barriers for:

  • Young people

  • Parents and caregivers

  • Service workers

  • Disabled and chronically ill candidates

  • First-generation Americans

Impact: Seats become competitive for ordinary people, not just insiders.

4. Pair term limits with democracy reforms

• Automatic voter registration

• Ranked-choice voting

• End partisan gerrymandering

• Ban dark money and rein in Super PACs

• Strengthen lobbying bans and the revolving door.

Impact: Term limits work as part of a broader push to return political power to voters.

Bottom Line

Congress should be a service job, not a lifetime appointment.

Term limits:

• Break up entrenched power.

• Reduce lobbyist influence

• Create space for new leaders.

• Bring working-class and younger voices into government.

• Help restore trust in democracy.

A rotating Congress is more representative, more energetic, and more responsive — and democracy thrives when fresh leaders step forward while others step aside.