Civic Legislative Initiative | Draft No. 004
THE TERM LIMITS AMENDMENT
Joint Resolution Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
Version 1.0
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to limit the number of terms that a Member of Congress may serve. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States:
ARTICLE [X]
Section 1.
House Limit: No person shall be elected as a Representative more than three times (Total: 6 years).
Section 2.
Senate Limit: No person shall be elected or appointed as a Senator more than twice (Total: 12 years).
Section 3.
Lifetime Combined Cap: No person shall be eligible for election or appointment to the House of Representatives or the Senate if the completion of such term would cause their total combined service in the Congress to exceed twelve years. This limitation applies cumulatively to service in both chambers.
Section 4.
Partial Terms: A person who has been appointed or elected to fill a vacancy and who has served more than one year of a term in the House of Representatives, or more than three years of a term in the Senate, shall be deemed to have served a full term for the purposes of this article.
Section 5.
Non-Retroactivity: Service performed prior to the date of the ratification of this article shall not be taken into account in determining eligibility for election or appointment under this article.
Section 6.
Ratification: This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM (EXPOSÉ)
1. THE PROBLEM
The Founders envisioned a "Citizen Legislature"—individuals who serve a brief season in government before returning to private life. Today, incumbency re-election rates exceed 94%, creating a de facto permanent ruling class where tenure is determined by seniority and fundraising networks rather than merit.
2. THE OBJECTIVE
This Amendment mandates rotation in office. By strictly limiting service to a combined maximum of 12 years, we dismantle the career politician structure. The "Combined Cap" (Section 3) is intentional: it prevents politicians from spending a lifetime jumping between chambers.
3. ADDRESSING THE "BUREAUCRATIC POWER" CONCERN
Critics argue that inexperienced legislators will be manipulated by permanent staff. However, the current system of long-term incumbency has already resulted in an impenetrable bureaucracy because incumbents rely on complexity to obscure special interest favors. A Citizen Legislature, knowing their time is short, will be incentivized to simplify the legal code, making government understandable to the people they represent, rather than dependent on an entrenched permanent bureaucracy.
Draft No. 004 | Lustra Civic Initiative | License: CC0 Public Domain