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I have some disappointing news concerning term limits. As many of you know, I’ve been pushing for a constitutional amendment to implement term limits for U.S. Representatives and Senators.

My current resolution (H.J. Res. 11) had over 100 co-sponsors. That’s because the majority of Americans support term limits for Congress. We can debate what those limits should be, but every one of us can agree that federal elected office should not be a decades-long career! It’s too easy to become disconnected from the people you serve. Members of Congress ought to be in Washington for a reasonable amount of time and then go home and live under the laws they enacted.

Furthermore, it’s no secret that incumbents have a MASSIVE inherent advantage in almost every election. Just from the standpoint of name recognition alone! So this notion that elections themselves are the solution to term limits is a weak argument at best.

Anyway, my resolution for a constitutional amendment was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where it was under formal consideration last week. (Generally, a bill must pass out of the relevant committee(s) before it can make its way to the full House for a vote.)

Unfortunately, it did not pass out of committee. I expected Democrats to vote against it, of course, but with Republicans in the majority it should have at least passed out of committee. Yet four Republicans on the Judiciary Committee voted against my resolution, which is astounding.

I’m not naming names, but it just goes to show how addicted federal politicians are to the trappings of Washington. I’ll keep trying, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that Congress is simply not going to term limit itself.

Instead, if a constitutional amendment on this front has any path forward, it’ll almost certainly require a Convention of States.