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![handle is hein.crs/govekvy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service
Informing the legislative debate since 1914
March 10, 2023
Term Limits for Members of Congress: Policy and Legal
Overview
Introduction
Legislative proposals for congressional term limits date to
1789. Supporters generally argue that requiring frequent
turnover among Members of Congress would make the
House and Senate more responsive to, and representative
of, constituents. Opponents counter that elections serve as
de facto term limits at voter discretion, and that experienced
Members of Congress are required to ensure that elected
officials, rather than congressional or agency staff or
lobbyists, make policy decisions. In Congress, at the U.S.
Supreme Court, and in the states, the 1990s featured
substantial term-limits activity. Members of Congress
continue to propose congressional term limits-a change
that the Supreme Court in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v.
Thornton (1995) held would require an amendment to the
U.S. Constitution. This CRS In Focus provides a brief
overview of policy and legal issues concerning term limits
for Members of Congress. It does not discuss term limits
for congressional committee chairs or leadership positions.
Selected Congressional Activity
Several constitutional amendments have been introduced in
the 118th Congress that, if passed and ratified, would limit
congressional terms. These measures include H.J.Res. 3;
H.J.Res. 5; H.J.Res. 11; H.J.Res. 20; H.J.Res. 32; S.J.Res.
1; and S.J.Res. 2. As with all proposed constitutional
amendments, each was referred to the House or Senate
Judiciary Committees.
The proposed term-limits amendments introduced in the
118th Congress generally are similar. The joint resolutions
would limit eligibility to serve in the House of
Representatives to three or six terms, counting as one term
an election to fill a vacancy if the Representative served for
more than one year. Similarly, the proposals would restrict
eligibility to serve in the Senate to two terms, counting as
one term an election or appointment to fill a vacancy if the
Senator served for more than three years. Most proposals
would not include terms that began before the date of the
amendment's ratification.
Most recently before the 118th Congress, the Senate
Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution,
held a term-limits hearing on June 18, 2019. Committees in
both chambers held hearings, at least partially dedicated to
term limits, between the 1940s and 1990s. (As noted below,
Congress was particularly active on term limits during the
1990s.) The Senate defeated a proposed congressional term-
limits amendment to a presidential term-limits bill, H.J.Res.
27, in 1947; the amendment sponsor cast the lone aye
vote.
Poliy Momentum and Decline in the
1 990s
Term limits occupied substantial political and policy energy
throughout the country in the 1990s. Proposed
congressional term limits were a component of the 1994
Contract with America policy agenda on which House
Republicans campaigned that year. Although a simple
majority of the House (227-204) supported proposed
constitutional amendment H.J.Res. 73 in March 1995, that
margin fell short of the two-thirds majority required for
passage. In 1995-1996, the Senate considered an alternative
proposal, S.J.Res. 21, but did not vote on final passage. The
House also fell short (217-211) of the two-thirds majority
required to pass term-limits amendment H.J.Res. 2 in
February 1997.
Consequentially for Congress during this period, the
Supreme Court held in the 1995 decision U.S. Term Limits
v. Thornton, discussed below, that a constitutional
amendment would be necessary to limit congressional
terms. After the Court issued its decision, those favoring
term limits generally concentrated on state-level advocacy
and proposals to amend the U.S. Constitution.
Congressional Term Limits Held
Unconstitutional
Key Constitutional Provisions
The U.S. Constitution establishes the qualifications for
Senators and Representatives. Article I, Section 3, clause 3
requires Senators to be at least 30 years old, nine years a
U.S. citizen, and an inhabitant of the state from which the
Senator is elected. In a parallel provision, Article I, Section
2, clause 2 requires Representatives to be at least 25 years
old, seven years a U.S. citizen, and an inhabitant of the state
from which the Representative is elected. Moreover, Article
I, Section 5, clause 1 provides that each house of Congress
has the express authority to be the final judge of the
Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its Members.
Supreme Court Precedents
In the landmark case of Powell v. McCormack (395 U.S.
486 (1969)), the Court addressed the scope of Congress's
authority in judging the qualifications of its Members under
Article I, Section 5. Powell was reelected to the House of
Representatives in the 90th Congress, but the House voted to
deny him a seat based on findings that he had engaged in
misconduct during the prior Congress. The Court held that
in assessing the qualifications of its Members, Congress
may only look to the requirements set forth in Article 1,
Section 2. The Court further concluded that the Framers'
underst[ood] that the qualifications for members of
Congress had been fixed in the Constitution. Accordingly,
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