Conservatives Push Term Limits–With A Catch

A widely-supported conservative reform to drain the DC swamp could backfire spectacularly, handing more power to the very lobbyists and unelected bureaucrats that patriots have fought to remove from Washington.

Story Snapshot

Congressional term limits bills stall in committee despite 80%+ public support, while critics warn inexperienced lawmakers would defer to K Street lobbyists
Rep. Ralph Norman’s H.J.Res.12 proposes three House terms and two Senate terms, requiring a constitutional amendment with two-thirds congressional approval
U.S. Term Limits advocacy group pushes state-level Article V convention route as alternative path, targeting 2026 state legislature filings
Opponents argue limits strip institutional knowledge, empowering unelected bureaucrats and special interests over short-term elected officials

The Term Limits Trap Conservatives Face

Rep. Ralph Norman introduced H.J.Res.12 on January 6, 2025, proposing to limit House members to three terms and Senators to two terms through constitutional amendment. The bill sits dormant in the House Judiciary Committee alongside Rep. Andrew Ogles’ H.J.Res.29, which addresses presidential term limits. Both measures require a two-thirds vote in Congress and ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures, a monumental hurdle that has repeatedly blocked similar efforts since the 1990s. Incumbents currently win reelection over 90 percent of the time, entrenching career politicians for an average of nine years in the House and eleven in the Senate.

Historical Attempts and Supreme Court Roadblocks

Twenty-three states passed congressional term limits in the 1990s following post-Watergate anti-careerism momentum, but the Supreme Court struck down these measures in U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton (1995), ruling states cannot impose such restrictions without a constitutional amendment. This precedent forces reformers down two paths: securing two-thirds approval from the very Congress members whose power would be curtailed, or mobilizing 34 state legislatures to call an Article V convention. President Trump’s 2017-2024 “drain the swamp” pledge revived this debate, yet multiple bills failed to advance beyond committee referrals, exposing the entrenched resistance within both parties to relinquishing power.

Why Limits Could Backfire on Conservatives

Critics warn that term limits could worsen the swamp by creating a revolving door of inexperienced legislators dependent on lobbyists and unelected bureaucrats for policy expertise and fundraising networks. Freshman members lack the institutional knowledge to navigate complex legislation, making them vulnerable to manipulation by K Street special interests who remain permanently embedded in Washington. This undermines the core conservative principle of accountable governance, as power shifts from elected officials answerable to voters toward shadowy influencers insulated from the ballot box. The very permanence of the bureaucratic state that frustrates conservatives would grow stronger relative to transient elected officials, inverting the intended reform.

Grassroots Push Bypasses Congressional Obstruction

U.S. Term Limits, a national advocacy organization, escalated its 2026 strategy by filing state-level resolutions to trigger an Article V convention, bypassing congressional roadblocks entirely. This approach requires 34 states to call a convention, where delegates could propose amendments independently of federal lawmakers. The group’s November 2025 op-eds from figures like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis frame limits as a rare bipartisan solution to restore public faith in Congress, citing overwhelming polling support exceeding 80 percent across party lines. However, convention processes carry constitutional uncertainties, including risks of a runaway convention expanding beyond the original scope or gridlock among competing state interests delaying reforms indefinitely.

Would Term Limits Make The DC Swamp Even Worse? | ZeroHedge https://t.co/OuIAzUoAsm

— George Orwell (@OrwellsRevenge) January 25, 2026

The 2026 Congress, dominated by investigations into Biden-era overreach, prioritizes oversight over legislative reforms according to legal analysts at Pillsbury Law. This political reality leaves term limits advocacy dependent on state-level action, where grassroots conservative pressure faces establishment resistance from both Republican institutionalists clinging to seniority advantages and Democrats wary of losing veteran progressives. The question remains whether draining the swamp through term limits solves the problem or merely empowers a different class of unaccountable elites, demanding conservatives weigh short-term victories against long-term unintended consequences that could erode representative government further. Without addressing the structural incentives favoring special interests, rotation alone may prove insufficient to dismantle entrenched corruption.