Statement on Unlimited Presidential Terms

No one should be in power interminably.

Americans know through experience that too many members of Congress find the temptation of endless power too hard to resist. Currently the combined ages of the current House Democratic leadership is older than the US Constitution! Even worse, two of those leaders have been in the House since the 1980s, and one since 1993.

While imposed term limits on Congress don’t currently exist, there are limits on how long a President can vie for national power.

Today, President Trump quipped on his Twitter account that the American people might “demand that [he] stay longer” than the Constitution’s two-term limit. He has made such jokes repeatedly. While spun as harmless, too many of President Trump’s “jokes” promote unAmerican ideas, rile his base, and enter dangerous political territory. Previous such comments, such as locking up political opponents, have fostered violence in the past.

President Trump’s statement is unacceptable and strikes at the consensus around the Constitutional system that enables our republican democracy. Our officials’ insatiable need for power, executives and legislators alike, is not serving we, the people, well. It’s time to think outside the two-party box and choose people to serve who put the nation.

I pledge to put my constituents above personal ambition and endless power. As your representative, I would commit to serve no more than five terms and work aggressively to legislate Congressional term limits.