Within days of taking office in 2015, Senator David Perdue fulfilled a campaign promise, and co-sponsored a bill limiting the number of terms a congressman could serve in Washington. It fit his image as a political outsider.
On Tuesday, another political outsider, Donald Trump, also called for term limits.
Donald Trump’s Washington is shaping up to look a lot like a boardroom scene from “The Apprentice.”
The GOP nominee on Tuesday told supporters here that he plans to tell the entrenched guard of Congress “you’re fired,” continuing his ethics reform push by advocating for term limits on members of Congress that would further “drain the swamp” in Washington, D.C.
“If I’m elected president I will push for a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress,” Trump said, seeking to capitalize on the momentum of prior ethics reforms announced one night earlier.
Senator Perdue quickly jumped on board, issuing this statement:
Today, I’m proud of Donald Trump for coming out in support of term limits for members of Congress. Right now, 60 members of the United States Senate have held elected office for 20 years or more, and 36 have held elected office for 30 years or more. That must change if we are going to change the direction of our country.
Career politicians created the moment of crisis America faces today. They aren’t the ones who are going to solve it. Term limits will help break this vicious cycle of gridlock that is crippling Congress from getting things done. It’s time to finally make sure Washington is more concerned about the next generation than the next election.
Trump’s proposal would limit House members to three two year terms, and Senate members to two six year terms. While some praise the proposal because it would effectively end the concept of the career politician, others point out that term limits would simply turn over more control to Washington bureaucrats, who, of course, can’t be termed limited. They also point out that an elected official can be called home by the voters each time he or she appears on the ballot.