Congress is one the most hated institutions in America, it is corrupt, outdated, and seems to get nothing done. President Trump himself even proposed that term limits be placed on members of Congress.

However, due to the fact that Congress would have to vote on that, it is never going to happen.

But, is it a good idea?

Yes, it would be for the greater good of our country and here is why:

First and foremost, the United States Congress lacks representation. Despite diversity reaching an all-time high in the most recent 2018 midterm election, our Congress still consists mostly of older white men.  With term limits, congressmen and women would only be allowed to serve a certain amount of years, so there would be no choice but to continuously get new representation. America does not only consist of older white men–neither should our Congress.

Secondly, it seems as if nothing is truly getting done in Congress. That is due to the fact that they have to be reelected, no one wants to upset the public and risk not getting voted back in. So, any major decisions or issues are not going to be discussed due to that. If term limits were in place, however, they would be able to say and do more high-risk actions that members otherwise would not do.

There are many plus sides to initiating term limits on members of Congress, but, there is also the downside that, if more young people are elected they lack the experience that most members right now have. Also, if one member was doing an outstanding job and they had to leave, the public would not be very happy.

When asking Lakewood resident, Rusty Lane, what he thought about enacting term limits on Congress he stated that, ¨I think our system is fine the way it is in that sense, but, the good thing about term limits is that more people would vote and be active in elections versus not really paying attention because it is the same people campaigning each election.¨

As one can see, there are many pros and cons to term limits in Congress, but it is extremely unlikely that they will ever be set in place.