Philip Blumel: Term Limits, a player in the primaries. Hi, I’m Philip Blumel. Welcome to No Uncertain Terms, the official podcast of the Term Limits Movement. This is episode number 289, published on August 10, 2026.
Stacey Selleck: Your sanctuary from partisan politics.
Philip Blumel: Term limits is popping up in the primary races as it always does. Let’s take a look at a few notable examples. The big story so far must be that the incumbent Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee lost in the primary for his Tennessee 5th Congressional seat. This is the same Andy Ogles who introduced a bill to amend the 22nd Amendment to allow President Trump to run for a third term. While the bill and Trump’s pronouncements on the subject stoked fears, largely performative, I’m sure, about Trump refusing to leave the White House, we at US Term Limits never took this seriously. In fact, the Ogles bill did not attract a single co-sponsor and in the end, Representative Ogles lost a Republican primary in a deep red district. He was roundly ridiculed for his bill, even amongst Republicans, which surely played a role in his defeat.
Philip Blumel: Now, the President, for his part, continues to troll the media with threats he will run again. He was rewarded with laughter at the recent Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington in July when he put on a red campaign hat and announced he looked forward to winning a fourth, [chuckle] yes, fourth campaign for President. Anyway, Ogles was defeated by the former Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture, Dr. Charlie Hatcher, who’s expected to win the general election in November against Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder in this very deep red district. And yes, Charlie Hatcher has indeed signed USTL’s congressional term limits pledge. Thanks for asking. He will be a co-sponsor and voter for the congressional term limits amendment bill. There are currently about 150 such signers in the US Congress.
Philip Blumel: Next, speaking of pledges, what better way is there to gauge the power of the term limits issue in this year’s elections than to look at the record number of politicians that have pledged to support term limits if they win? As you hopefully recall, US Term Limits has two primary pledges we ask politicians to sign: the Congressional Term Limits Pledge, such as the one Charlie Hatcher signed, and the state-level pledge to support the Article 5 term limits convention resolution. I mentioned we have about 150 incumbent Congress members who have signed the congressional pledge. Now, what’s exciting about this election cycle is that 705 candidates and incumbents have signed the pledge this cycle. Now, to give you some basis of comparison, that number was 353 in 2024. No need to reach for your calculator, I have one right here. That’s a double, friends. Candidates are hearing from the people and they are picking up their pens and signing the pledge.
Philip Blumel: Now, even more exciting is the explosion of support for the Article 5 term limits convention resolution. Twelve states, including two in 2026, have officially called for an amendment proposing convention under Article 5 of the US Constitution, limited to the subject of congressional term limits. This is the method by which we can force Congress to act because, well, if they don’t, state legislators who want their jobs will. In this cycle, 1,614 state legislative candidates and incumbents have signed the pledge to co-sponsor, vote for, and defend the term limits convention resolution in their respective states. The momentum is growing. There’s no doubt about it. Now, how do you know if the candidates on your primary ballot have signed?
Philip Blumel: Easy. Go to termlimits.com. Scroll down, it’s on the landing page and you’ll see links to the congressional and legislative signers. You can search by name or state or other keywords. And if your candidate hasn’t signed, ask them about it. They received the pledge, they know about it. But if they claim they haven’t, tell them to go to termlimits.com to download a copy. These pledges aren’t for show. They are one of the levers by which we are going to win this battle to reform Congress.
Speaker 3: This is a public service announcement.
Philip Blumel: On July 24, at the aforementioned White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C., President Trump offered a comical and, of course, provocative address to the media. It will hardly surprise you that this joke was our favorite.
Donald Trump: All joking aside, I do think we need term limits in Congress. I think term limits are very important because I see what’s happening. I see what’s happening. The other day, a senator I knew got a text, a great guy, from his wife, and she said, “When you get home, I want to have you immediately come up the stairs and make love to me.” And he said, “I can’t do both.” You know? Can’t go up the stairs and make love. Does anybody get that? Well, I thought that was actually pretty good. That was actually the only thing I thought was good in this whole freaking stupid speech that they wrote.
Philip Blumel: Okay, okay, back to the primaries. Term limits have bubbled up as an issue in several. One key one is the battle for the US Senate seat for Massachusetts. Here we have a 50-year veteran of the US Congress, incumbent Senator Ed Markey, being challenged by a 47-year-old Congress member, US Representative Seth Moulton. Now, Moulton is a longtime vocal supporter of term limits and he’s running against the gerontocracy and is not pulling any punches about it. Senator Markey is 80 and would be 86 at the end of his next term. Here’s a clip from a recent debate between the two.
Speaker 5: And again, from a Boston 25-year-old, we got a lot of questions from our viewers, which is awesome. And this is: how long is too long to hold public office? Do you support term limits? And if so, what are they? Senator Markey, we start with you. 45 seconds.
Senator Ed Markey: Well, we have term limits. They’re called elections. And we have an election coming up in another four weeks. But elections are always about the future. And again, the voters are going to have to decide.
Speaker 5: Congressman Moulton, do you support term limits? What are they if you do? 45 seconds.
Congressman Seth Moulton: Yes, I do support them. I’m gonna answer the question straight up. I do support them because I think too many people in Washington are clinging to power for too long.
Philip Blumel: All right. Another example is a congressional race between Luke Bronin and John Larson for the Connecticut District 1 seat in the US Congress. In the July 28, 2026 Democratic primary debate hosted by WTNH, the candidates were directly asked whether they support term limits for members of Congress. The 14-term, 28-year incumbent John Larson rejected term limits right out. Like Senator Markey, he said the system that cemented him in office is just fine. Now, here is Luke Bronin’s response.
Speaker 8: Mike, I want to talk now about a mandatory retirement age like judges have in our state, which is 70. Mr. Larson, you just turned 78. That makes you the third oldest member of Connecticut’s delegation. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro is 83. Senator Richard Blumenthal is 80. So the question to all of you is, would you back a mandatory retirement age? And Mr. Bronin, we begin with you. You have 60 seconds.
Luke Bronin: What I support is term limits. I don’t think these were meant to be lifetime jobs. I have not made this race about Congressman Larson’s age, but I do think that 28 years in Congress is too long. I think it’s hard to find anybody that does the same thing for three decades and doesn’t get stuck in some routines and start seeing things the same way. And I don’t think we can afford that as a country, as a party. And I do think that Congress would be stronger if you had more renewal, if you had more passing of the torch. So I am strongly for term limits. I have said so publicly for a long time, and I think that’s what we should be pushing for.
Philip Blumel: All right, let’s finish with another public service announcement. This one is from the Majority Democrats PAC, which is pushing term limits for congressional committee chairs, much like what the Republicans have currently. The Majority Democrats PAC was launched in July 2025 by self-described moderates, center-left Democratic figures. The initiative was largely sparked by a post-2024 election memo written by Democratic advisor and funder Seth London, who called for a leadership committee to rebuild the party’s brand among swing voters and working-class voters. The group focuses on accountability issues to try to broaden the appeal of their party to independent voters. Hence, they advocate for taming insider trading by Congress members and also, yes, term limits on committee chairs. But let’s hear it directly from their own PSA.
Speaker 10: Eight Democrats have died in office since 2023. What makes a member of Congress choose to die at their desk instead of retiring? The answer, gerontocracy. Some of the most powerful people in Washington would rather die in their committee chairs than admit they can’t do the job. Here’s what’s going on and why you get screwed in the process. Every committee in Congress is usually run by whoever’s been there the longest, not the smartest or the best for the job. Often it’s just the oldest person in the room.
Speaker 11: And a string of…
Speaker 10: That person, the chair, runs the show. They decide which bills get a hearing and which ones die because they never get scheduled.
S?: It’s a long, long wait while I’m sitting in committee.
Speaker 10: When the chair won’t move the bill, you’re the one who pays. In 2020, in his 18th year in Congress, Democrats made David Scott the chair of the House Agriculture Committee. He was 75. While Scott did serve with distinction, he was unable to pass the farm bill, and funding for food assistance, crop insurance, and more got stuck. By 2022, more and more doubts about Scott’s ability to lead the committee were reported. Democratic leadership was asked about it, and they said they had confidence in him and kept him in the chair. The result? Gerontocracy. Rule by the oldest in the room instead of having an honest conversation about who is best fit to lead. There’s one way to break the system, you challenge the chair directly. But almost nobody does this because your party will make you pay for it. In 2024, Angie Craig mounted a contested challenge and won. But when the next generation has the audacity to challenge the status quo, they get shit for it. We have fitness tests for soldiers, performance reviews for workers, but for the people writing the laws that govern 330 million Americans, all we have is seniority and survival. We have to do something different.
Speaker 10: In 2025, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez introduced an amendment calling for members of Congress to be evaluated for cognitive impairment. This isn’t about telling anyone they’re too old. It’s about the job being too important to let someone keep the seat warm when they clearly shouldn’t be in it. Americans deserve to know their representatives are medically fit to represent them. So let’s set committee chair term limits. Pick chairs based on who’s best, who brings new ideas, not who’s lasted longest. If we want a democratic party that wins again and is able to keep its majority, we have to be the party that’s willing to hold its own accountable. And look at the math. If we win a majority in 2026, we might not keep it for long.
Stacey Selleck: Like the show? You can help by subscribing and leaving a five-star review on both Apple and Spotify. It’s free.
Philip Blumel: 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 are watching. That’s termlimits.com/takeaction. If your state has already passed the term limits convention resolution or the bill’s not been introduced in your state, you can still help. Please consider making a contribution to US Term Limits. It’s 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.
Stacey Selleck: Find us on most social media @USTermLimits. Like us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and now LinkedIn.
S?: USTL.
