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Happy Term Limits Day, February 27th. We have a lot to celebrate this year, starting with legislative victories just last week in Arizona and Georgia. Hi, I’m Philip Blumel. Welcome to No Uncertain Terms, the official podcast of the Term Limits Movement, published on February 24th, 2025. This is episode number 258.
Your sanctuary from partisan politics.
US Term Limits has a new chair in the state of Delaware, former State Senator Dr. Mike Katz. Here’s how he described Term Limits Day in the Bay to Bay News last week under the headline: It’s time to get serious about congressional term limits. “We celebrate February 27th as National Term Limits Day. We do this to raise awareness of today’s most popular and bipartisan issue, congressional term limits. With over 151 members who have pledged to support congressional term limits now serving in Congress, we’re seeing movement to pass them. In the House of Representatives, House Joint Resolution 12, sponsored by Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina, has more than 50 co-sponsors listed. Once passed by Congress and ratified by the states, it would limit representatives to three terms or six years and senators to two terms or 12 years. In the Senate, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas filed Senate Joint Resolution No. 1, the companion resolution, with 15 co-sponsors. This National Term Limits Day, events will be held throughout the nation to bring attention to the need for them. If term limits are good enough for the president, why not for Congress? Happy Term Limits Day, and let’s finish the job and get term limits on Congress.”
Right on, Dr. Katz. Thank you. In his piece, he also emphasizes the importance of the states in applying pressure on Congress to act. This is being done by passing official applications for an amendment-writing convention under Article 5 of the US Constitution, limited to the subject of congressional term limits. Well, how’s that going? I’m glad you asked. Nine states so far have passed the term limits convention resolution. Since our last podcast, two more chambers have approved the application. On February 19th, the resolution passed the Arizona House, led by House Speaker Steve Montenegro, in a bipartisan vote of 31 yays and 28 nays. And the very next day, February 20th, it was the turn of the Georgia Senate, which passed the resolution in another bipartisan vote of 34 to 18. The effort there was led by Senator Bill Cowsert.
Well, the bills are already introduced in the second chambers in both Arizona and Georgia. Recall that for a state to officially apply for the convention, it requires both chambers to make the call. The governor does not have to sign the resolution. Okay, so Arizona and Georgia this last week join Indiana and South Dakota, now, among the four legislative chambers that have passed the Term Limits Convention Resolution since January 1st of this year. We’re hoping to get a floor vote in the South Carolina House this week, maybe even on Term Limits Day, February 27th. We’ll see. And significant moves have also been made in Kansas, Utah, Idaho, Missouri, Ohio, and Texas. Three states made full applications last year. Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee. How many will do so in 2025? To some extent, it’s up to you. If I mentioned your state, please, today, please go to termlimits.com/takeaction. There you will find your state and click the “Take Action” button next to it. There you will be able to quickly and easily send a message to the relevant decision makers in your state to support the Term Limits Convention. It’s on their desk right now, so please don’t delay.
Last year was our most successful yet since we launched the Term Limits Convention project. But 2025 could be even better. Next. Nick Tomboulides, executive director of US Term Limits, appeared on The National Desk last week and summarized the state of the Term Limits Movement for viewers nationally over the Sinclair Broadcast Group network. Let’s hear it.
An overwhelming majority of Americans support term limits for Congress with polls by Pew Research and McLaughlin showing at least 83% think it’s necessary from both sides of the aisle. Well, joining us this morning to discuss, the CEO of the non-profit US Term Limits, Nick Tomboulides. Good morning to you, Nick. Good to see you.
Good morning, Jen.
So your group is working to get a constitutional amendment passed for term limits. How would that work and what sort of terms are you proposing for Congress?
Well, term limits is the one issue I think that everyone agrees on, whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican. And it’s easy to see why, because we have people who run for Congress and, you know, they say it’s a swamp and then they get there and they realize it’s more like a hot tub. They get cozy. They get comfortable. They never want to come home. They become career politicians. We’ve got people like Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi who’ve been in Congress longer than I and many Americans have been alive. It’s simply unacceptable, and the results have been a disaster. So in terms of how it would work, it would be just like the term limits that we have for the president, for most governors, for state legislators. At a regular period, we’re saying six years for the House. You throw the bums out, you get somebody new, new faces, new ideas, new perspectives, people who can change the system before it changes them.
Well, critics say we already have term limits. They’re called elections. How do you answer that?
You know, I hear that out of people in Washington all the time. And honestly, I think they’re just trying to save their own bacon because they know better. These incumbents, they get reelected 98% of the time, even though they have a 10% approval rating. It’s obviously a very broken and very rigged system. They have tens of millions of dollars they’re sitting on. They know how to keep real competition away. In fact, the only way you get real elections is through term limits because then you’re guaranteed that open seat every six years or so.
But it would require Congress. So is it really feasible to think Congress would ever term-limit themselves?
Not too feasible because chickens don’t tend to vote for Colonel Sanders, as you know. But when we look at American history, there have been many constitutional amendments that Congress has refused to pass, and we’ve actually forced their hand by going through the state level. You go to the state capitals and you pass these resolutions for a constitutional amendment. Typically, they’re called convention resolutions, and then you can force Congress to propose something. It’s been done with many amendments in the past, including presidential term limits, and we’re doing the same thing here for congressional. So it is true that without pressure, Congress won’t do it, but we can apply that pressure through the states.
Well, tell us about the progress that you’ve made so far.
Sure. Yeah, we’re organizing in all of the state capitals. And we haven’t been doing it for very long, but we’ve already gotten nine states to pass these resolutions for congressional term limits. We’ve got a lot more on the way. We’re looking this year at South Dakota, their state house just passed this. The Indiana State Senate just passed this. We’re alive in Georgia, South Carolina, Ohio, Arizona, many other states this year. And as we get more and more of these states signed up, behind the congressional term limits resolution, it really ratchets up that pressure on Congress to do something because they don’t want to leave this to the states. They’re going to have to preempt the states and propose that amendment themselves.
I see you’ve got some states on board with you there. I want to ask you very quickly, you were talking about some of the signs we’ve seen lately in our Congress, you know, the aging Congress, you mentioned Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell. There are those who say we need age limits, not term limits. What do you say to that?
Right. You know, I think people are correct when they say Congress is the world’s most expensive assisted living facility. In fact, we actually find members of Congress who have been living in assisted living facilities and not doing their jobs as of late. It’s extremely alarming. Age limits is a great idea as well. You know, we have it for many other professions, here in Florida where I live we do it for judges, airline pilots have age limits, many other professions. So that’s a good idea. But term limits is a better idea because it’s proven. We see how it works with the president. We see how it works with governors. With term limits, you’re really making it more about competency rather than age because there are some older people who are doing a great job. There are also some younger people who don’t know what they’re doing. So with term limits, it’s more about attacking the corruption and the incumbency rather than age.
CEO of US Term Limits, Nick Tomboulides. Great to see you. Thanks for joining us.
Thank you, Jen. Appreciate it.
Next, the country’s longest-serving Senate party leader in US history, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has announced he will not be running for reelection. First elected to the US Senate in 1985, Senator McConnell famously announced that there would be no vote on congressional term limits while he led the Senate. Well, Senator McConnell has already stepped down from his position as Senate Majority Leader and now will leave the Senate altogether in 2026. His replacement is Senator John Thune of South Dakota. Encouragingly, in 1996, Thune was elected to the US House of Representatives on the premise that he supported term limits. He pledged to serve only three two-year terms, a commitment he honored by stepping down after six years to run for the Senate. However, over the decades, his views, let’s say, evolved. Funny how that happens. In 2012, Senator John Thune voted against the Sense of the Senate amendment regarding term limits that was attached to the 2012 Stock Act. This amendment was proposed by Senator Jim DeMint and was aimed to express the Senate’s support for a constitutional amendment limiting the number of terms a member of Congress may serve.
Not surprisingly, Senators voted down the amendment 58 to 33. But sadly, Thune was one of the nays. In the competition for his current position leading the Senate, Senator Thune showed some openness to the idea of term limits for Senate leadership, an issue brought up by his competitors for the post, including Senator Rick Scott of Florida and John Cornyn of Texas. Both Senators Scott and Cornyn advocated a six-year term limit on that position. Since his victory, however, Senator Thune appears to have sort of cooled on that idea. We’ll have to wait and see. Well, this is all very interesting, but ultimately, it will take enormous pressure on the Congress to get it to act on a term limits amendment. And that pressure is going to have to come from the states and from the people.
Next. On the No Uncertain Terms podcast, we have been following for years the story of another US senator who has steadfastly opposed congressional term limits and has also recently left the US Senate, although under very different circumstances than that of Mitch McConnell. I’m talking about former US Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey. Senator Menendez, at the end of last month, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in the infamous Gold Bar Bribery Case, in which the former chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was found guilty also of acting as a foreign agent, a very first for a US senator. Senator Menendez served over 30 years in the US Congress before he resigned in August of last year. This was the second corruption trial. In 2018, a jury was unable to reach a verdict in that case. Notably, Senator Menendez refused to sign the US term limits pledge to co-sponsor and vote for the Congressional term limits amendment, of course. Also, back in 2012, he voted nay, along with Mitch McConnell and John Thune, on the Sense of the Senate non-binding resolution asking whether congressional terms should be limited.
Given the incumbent advantages that lead to the 90%-plus re-election rate in Congress, the corrupt have little to fear. No wonder long tenure is so highly correlated with corruption. Tenure in office with little fear of a competitive electoral challenge encourages arrogance and also provides ever-growing opportunity for corruption. Next. Inspired by last year’s victories of the Term Limits Convention Resolution in North Carolina, Louisiana, and Tennessee, author and economist John Tamney announced the arrival of a “growing national momentum” for term limits at the realclearpolicy.com website. John Tamney is editor of Real Clear Markets, president of the Parkview Institute, a senior fellow at the Market Institute, and a senior economic advisor to the Applied Finance Advisors Group. His next book is called ‘Budget Deficit Delusion: Why Everything Left, Right, and Supply Side Tell You About the National Debt is Wrong’. Here’s an audio version of Tamney’s recent column read by the author.
North Carolina voters confirm growing national momentum for term limits. North Carolina’s legislature recently passed a congressional term limits resolution in bipartisan fashion. The Tar Heel State is the third one in 2024, joining Louisiana and Tennessee to make the historic leap. Voter momentum favors limiting the amount of time those elected to Congress can serve, which is a crucial step toward better times ahead. To see why, simply stop and consider voters’ disdain for Congress. It’s well known. The latest polls from 2024 indicate that Congress’s approval rating languishes in the 19% range. Less well known is voter support for congressional term limits. A recent Pew poll revealed that 86% of Democrats and 90% of Republicans favor term limits for Congress. Voter displeasure with Congress and support for term limits are arguably related. To understand why, readers should never forget that being elected to Congress has little relation to success while in Congress. Those who seek election frequently promise change in all manner of plans meant to throw the bums out while disrupting business as usual. It doesn’t matter if the base of voters swings right or left. People want to be told that their vote will bring about change, only for reality to mug the would-be change agents.
Upon being sworn in, the newly elected to Congress quickly realized that they will change little to nothing, and they won’t be as power in Congress resides within the hands of the very few, and the very few attain that power through a demonstrated ability to work well with and raise funds for those they promised to throw out in the first place, only for a status quo that has authored the growth of more and more government to run roughshod over those promising the change. It’s been said that time in Congress changes the politician. The analysis is backwards. More realistically, politicians capable of being constantly reelected change to reflect their evolution from a reformer who reforms nothing to a politician capable of getting things done based on a reasoned view that power rarely finds its way to those who vote no on everything, who want to change how things are done, or both. See former Congressman Ron Paul if you’re confused. Which explains why term limits are so necessary. What limits terms in Congress limits time in Congress, which means the greatest attribute of term limits is that they would alter the incentives driving the elected. Precisely because three terms is insufficient for most any congressman to amass power, there will be reduced desire to acquire power to begin with.
In other words, those who arrive in Washington with reform very much in their minds will have less time or reason to morph into the kind of politician that they arrived in Washington to neuter, which is why it’s hoped that Louisiana, North Carolina and Tennessee are a signal of a trend. People who run for high office aren’t inherently bad people. But the desire to be consequential once in high office brings out the bad in them. See Congress’s approval rating yet again. The good news is that the solution to voter disdain for Congress and congressmen can be found in term limits. A lack of them presently warps the incentives of those who arrive in Washington with good intentions, but who quickly realize they must shed their idealistic ways if they want to live up to even a fraction of the idealism that first got them elected.
Thanks, John. Even with all the progress and excitement right now, we are forced to finish this episode of No Uncertain Terms on a sad note, as the term limits movement has lost a couple of our champions. First, Florida Senator Geraldine Thompson, a Democrat who represented a portion of the Orlando area. Geraldine was a trailblazing civil rights leader, community advocate, and a founder of the Wells Built Museum to Preserve African American History. But for those of us in the term limits movement, she will always be remembered for casting the deciding vote that made Florida the first state to pass the US term limits Convention Resolution. Without Geraldine, we would not have succeeded in Florida. This was our first state, the test state. And she didn’t stop there. After securing this historic victory, she continued advocating for congressional term limits in other states, encouraging leaders across the country to take action.
Second, Bob Reed. Bob was the founder of a grassroots group called Term Limits for US Congress. A former engineering scientist and manager for one of the top five US aerospace corporations, Reed dedicated his post-retirement years to researching national issues and primarily championing the need for congressional term limits. Thank you, Bob. Thank you, Geraldine, for your important efforts. Our hearts go out to your families. For more information on Term Limits heroes like Bob and Geraldine, check out termlimits.com/halloffame for more moving stories. That’s it for this episode. Happy Term Limits Day, February 27th.
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Thanks for joining us for another episode of No Uncertain Terms. The Term Limits Convention bills are moving through the state legislatures. This could be a breakthrough year for the Term Limits Movement. To check on the status of the Term Limits Convention resolution in your state, go to termlimits.com/takeaction. There, you will see if it has been introduced and where it stands in the committee process on its way to the floor vote. If there’s action to take, you’ll see a “Take Action” button by your state. Click it. This will give you the opportunity to send a message to the most relevant legislators, urging them to support the legislation. They have to know you’re watching. That’s termlimits.com/takeaction. If your state has already passed the Term Limits Convention resolution, or the bill has not been introduced in your state, you can still help. Please consider making a contribution to US Term Limits. It is our aim to hit the reset button on the US Congress, and you can help. Go to termlimits.com/donate. Termlimits.com/donate. Thanks. We’ll be back next week.
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