logoalt Hacker News

alistairSHtoday at 2:55 PM3 repliesview on HN

Good news, the average career in the House is already 8 years, so no new law needed! The Senate average is 11 years, so it's already less than 2 terms, no change needed there either!

I'm only half kidding - yes, there are outliers, many of whom probably should have retired years ago (but not because they've been around too long, but because they're simply too old to do the job - Pelosi and McConnell come to mind). But, the range of term limits that are usually discussed are already within the existing range, so it doesn't change all that much.


Replies

nobodyandproudtoday at 5:47 PM

It’s not the overall average that matter here. What is average for those in leadership positions?

SoftTalkertoday at 4:00 PM

> they're simply too old to do the job

I'd absolutely support a maximum age limit, maybe e.g. if you will reach 70 years of age in your term of office you cannot run. So a senator could be elected up to age 64. A Representative up to age 68. And I'd apply that to all elected offices. My biggest criticism of Biden vs. Trump was that they were both too old.

show 1 reply
mothballedtoday at 2:59 PM

Those with longer tenure though tend to end up in the powerful senate positions like becoming a majority/minority leader. Thus you end up with absolute fossils like Pelosi or McConnell who most recently basically snuck in banning hemp into the budget bill, which was something absolutely almost no one in the USA was calling for and incredibly unpopular.

I doubt a minority/majority leader with only 2 terms would be as good at snaking in this kind of stuff in, or snaking their way through the politics of various committees to kill off proposed legislation before it's voted upon, that takes practice to really get good at all the underhanded techniques.