Updated March 2026 | Originally published April 30, 2018
In a post on social media during his first term, President Trump re-endorsed his campaign promise calling for term limits on Congress. As part of his #DrainTheSwamp platform, then-candidate Trump called for congressional term limits — specifically, limiting House members to 6 years of service (3 terms) and Senate members to 12 years of service (2 terms). Under those conditions, how many members of the 115th Congress would have been out of a job in 2019?
A lot, it turns out. And the numbers have only grown since.
The 115th Congress: Where It Started
By the end of the 115th Congress, 73 percent of representatives had served three or more terms.
318 representatives — more than two-thirds of the House — had served three or more terms at the end of that Congress, and would have been out of a job if the suggested term limits were in place. Of the 318 legislators, 161 were Republicans, and 157 were Democrats.
46 of the 100 senators had served two or more terms at the conclusion of the 115th Congress. There were 32 who had already surpassed that threshold, and an additional 14 who completed their second term at the end of that Congress. Of the 46, 23 were Democrats, 22 were Republicans, and one was an Independent.
The 119th Congress: The Numbers Are Higher Than Ever
Seven years later, congressional tenure has continued to climb. Under Trump’s originally proposed limits, the 119th Congress would face an even more dramatic reshuffling.
368 representatives — roughly 85 percent of the House — are currently serving in their third term or more. If the proposed three-term House limit were applied today, they would all be ineligible to serve.
The Senate picture is similarly striking. 74 senators are currently serving in their second term or longer, and 49 have served three terms or more. The chamber is anchored by some of its longest-tenured members: Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa is in his eighth term, and Senator Mitch McConnell will serve through his seventh before his retirement in 2027.
The Conversation Today: Lots of Bills, Little Movement
The term limits debate has not gone quiet — in fact, it has grown louder, at least in volume. According to Quincy — Quorum’s AI Assistant — members of the 119th Congress have introduced 449 bills referencing term limits for members of Congress. So far, not one has moved past the introduction phase.
The most notable is H.J.Res. 12, introduced by Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina, which proposes a constitutional amendment limiting House members to three terms and senators to two — the same structure Trump originally championed. U.S. Term Limits reports that more than 140 members of the 119th Congress have signed pledges supporting the resolution. Other legislators, including Senator Rick Scott of Florida, have continued pushing for term limits as part of broader government reform agendas.
The conversation has also been active on social media, particularly around National Term Limits Day on February 27 — a date chosen to mark the ratification of the 22nd Amendment in 1951, which limits presidents to two terms. Each year, members of Congress use the occasion to signal support for applying similar restrictions to the legislative branch. In 2025, members of Congress made 328 social media posts referencing term limits, most tied to that annual observance or to campaign messaging ahead of 2026 primary elections.
Advocates point to broad public support for the idea. A recent Pew Research poll found that 87 percent of Americans, regardless of political affiliation, support congressional term limits. Critics, however, argue that strict limits would create a revolving door of inexperienced legislators and that the real check on longevity in office is the ballot box. In 1995, the Supreme Court ruled in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton that a constitutional amendment would be required to impose any such limits — a high bar that has stalled the effort for three decades.
With neither chamber scheduling a vote on any of the 449 introduced bills, the pattern from Trump’s first term appears to be repeating: strong rhetoric, strong polling, and very little legislative traction.
A New Wrinkle: What About a Third Term for Trump?
One irony hovering over the current term limits debate is that while Congress debates restricting its own tenure, President Trump has repeatedly mused — at times seriously, at times playfully — about whether he could serve a third term himself.
Throughout 2025, Trump made a series of public remarks on the subject. Shortly after returning to office, he joked about serving “three times or four times” before catching himself. In a March NBC interview, he said he was not joking about the possibility and acknowledged an awareness of potential paths to make it happen. Later that spring, he softened the suggestion, saying he planned to be “an eight-year president” focused on accomplishing things in four years before handing off to a successor. By October, speaking aboard Air Force One, he appeared to close the door more firmly, calling the constitutional restriction “pretty clear” and saying it was “too bad” the rules didn’t allow him to run again.
The 22nd Amendment — ratified in 1951, the same amendment that National Term Limits Day commemorates — is what stands in the way. Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution to allow Trump a third term, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged such a scenario was possible only “not without a change in the Constitution.” Legal experts broadly consider that kind of change extraordinarily unlikely.
The parallel is not lost on observers. The same constitutional amendment process that would be required to impose term limits on Congress is the only vehicle that could extend presidential eligibility — and both face the same steep climb.
For now, the numbers keep growing, the bills keep getting introduced, and Congress keeps not voting on them. Whether Trump’s renewed political prominence brings fresh energy to the term limits push — or whether the conversation stays exactly where it has been for years, loud on social media and quiet on the floor — remains to be seen.
Want to track term limits legislation in real time? Quorum’s public affairs software monitors every bill, resolution, and congressional mention so you never miss a development.
