Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is now the longest-serving Senate Republican leader in history, surpassing former Senator Bob Dole.
At the time of publishing, McConnell has been in the position 4,179 days, according to the Senate Historical Office, after ascending to the job on Jan. 3, 2007. He’s been a senator for 34 years, first earning the seat in 1984, and has been re-elected six times.
Most see this as an accomplishment, and it certainly indicates the Kentucky senator’s canny political mind. But it also indicates the flaws in our current system of government.
McConnell is a career politician in the truest sense of the word. He’s made his living earning reelection every six years, and his ability to stay in office speaks more to his fundraising ability than it does to his desire to serve the American people.
The Founders never intended the federal government to be a permanent job destination. As George Washington so clearly showed, the Founders wanted elected representatives to serve for a time and then return to their jobs, farms and businesses.
Instead, our federal officials run for reelection year after year, enriching themselves on the backs of the American taxpayers.
There is a way to change the status quo, and Senators like McConnell won’t have any say in the matter.
An Article V Convention of States can propose a constitutional amendment limiting the terms of office for federal officials. This term limit amendment can apply to Congressmen, but it can also apply to judges and any other federal employee the Convention believes should leave office after a certain amount of time.
Career politicians keep our country from moving forward and keep We the People from having a voice in D.C. It’s time for a change, and Article V allows the states to make it.
