From the Desks of
William Wilson, SCW Georgia
Editor Robert Hein, LL Georgia
[Part 1] of this 3 Part Educational Series reviewed the overwhelming bipartisan public support for Congressional term limits and inevitability of re-election by most incumbents.
In Part 2, we're looking at the huge change in average length of service of a Representative or Senator from 1789 to the beginning of the Twenty-First Century.
Over time, political party rules, directives, and seniority systems elevate career politicians to an unwarranted and undeserved status. Seniority eventually places those with the most longevity in leadership positions. House or Senate leaders dictate how Committee assignments are made and party members must vote. Career politicians with the longest careers are the ones who set public policy and often crush any “influx of new ideas.”
Remember, each Congressional District only has approximately 750,000 constituents. So, the party system rules, longevity, and ability to raise extraordinary amounts of political contributions explains how politicians like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gain such outsized influence over the rest of the country. A small number of Democratic voters from the San Francisco, CA district dominate an outsized agenda over America.
The Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives maintains a chart showing the terms of service for all Members of the House 117th Congress. Each Representative serves two years unless they resign, die, or are removed from office. For example, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi began serving June 2, 1987. She has been in Congress almost 34 years but is starting her 18th term of service. Assuming she completes her current term of office she will have served 36 years.
According to a January 5, 2021, Congressional Research Service report the average length of service of both the House and Senate has varied substantially since 1789– the 1st Congress. By definition, the entering Representatives in 1789 had zero years prior service. The CRS report found:
“The average years of service for Members of the 117th Congress on January 3, 2021 was 8.9 years for the House and 11 years for the Senate.”
“The findings presented here align with scholarly assessments of congressional history, which conclude that during the early history of Congress, turnover in membership was frequent and resignations were commonplace. Many lawmakers in the 18th and 19th centuries might be characterized as ‘citizen legislators,’ holding full-time nonpolitical employment and serving in Congress on a part-time basis for a short number of years. During the 20th century, congressional careers lengthened as turnover decreased and Congress became more professionalized [meaning, career politicians].”
“The prior House service of incoming Representatives increased from an average of 2.5 years in the 19th century to 9.4 [years] in the 21st century to date…. Incoming Senators averaged 4.8 years of prior chamber service in the 19th century, and 11.2 years during the 21st century to date.”
Note: Death or resignation of several long-serving Representatives or Senators can have a large impact on average tenures. During the 110th Congress, Senators Robert Byrd (2010, 50 years of service) and Edward Kennedy (2009, 46.2 years of service) both died in office within months of each other. This resulted in a significant decline in average service.
Approximately 123 (28%) out of 435 voting members of the House have been there longer than the 9.4 year average. That is 2 years more than a President is allowed to serve under the Twenty-Second Amendment. Similarly, 37 (37%) of the current 100 Senators have served longer than the 11.2 years average.
Four of the current 117th Congressional House members have 40 years or more of service: Donald Young (R-AK, 47.8 years), Harold Rogers (R-KY, 40 years), Christopher Smith (R-NJ, 40 years), and Steny Hoyer (D-MD, 39.9 years).
The four longest serving Senators in the current Senate are: Patrick Leahy (D-VT, 46 years), Chuck Grassley (R-IA, 40 years), Mitch McConnell (R-KY, 36 years), and Richard Shelby (R-AL, 34 years).
We often overlook incentives for seeking and staying in office. Aside from the basic desire to “serve the public” there are significant financial ones: salary, Federal Employees Retirement System, Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, free mailing privileges, an office in Washington, DC, expense reimbursement, and annual budget allowance.
According to the Congressional Salaries and Allowances in Brief (a CRS April 18, 2018, report), Representatives receive an average budget allowance of $1,315,00 per year. Senators received an average budget allowance of $3,468,000 per year to run their offices and hire staff.
There are huge intangible reasons to stay in office: power to control policy, fame, exclusivity, access to information not available to the rest of us, and immediate connectivity to any social, business, news media for networking around the globe.
While the House is often called “The Peoples’ House,” The Senate is sometimes referred to as “The Most Exclusive Club” in the world. Six-year terms provide stability and a platform from which to launch re-election to remain a member of the Club.
William S. White makes the case for such exclusivity in his 1957 book Citadel,
“… equality in the Senate stopped at the Senate's chamber door. [White] disregarded the notion of a senator as “one among 100 equals," presenting instead stories of people who make up an “inner” club of the Senate. Members of this so-called inner club displayed a “tolerance toward his fellows, [and] intolerance toward any who would in any real way change the Senate, its customs or its way of life.”
In Part 3, the conclusion to this series, we will take a look at the historical background surrounding why the Founders failed to include term limits in the Constitution. In hindsight it may seem obvious and a huge mistake, but there were many reasons why it was not included.
Join us in the fight to save Liberty and the Republic. Read history, and take action by signing the petition and volunteering. Thank you for supporting our important mission and goals.
Term Limits Part 2-William Wilson
