Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former Democratic Maryland Representative David Trone have launched a national campaign calling for term limits on members of the U.S. Congress.
The call comes as the government shutdown enters its 22nd day, a protracted stalemate that the former lawmakers argue is symptomatic of a deeper issue: a Congress “dominated by career politicians.”
In a joint op-ed published Wednesday in The New York Times, DeSantis and Trone criticized the current state of both the House and Senate, asserting that high re-election rates—often exceeding 90 percent—create an environment where members are “more concerned with clinging to power than serving the public.”
READ: Florida Gov. DeSantis’ Record Execution Pace Continues As Norman Grim Waives All Appeals
New Campaign to Restore Accountability
DeSantis, who represented Florida’s 6th congressional district from 2013 to 2018, and Trone, who represented Maryland’s 6th district from 2019 to early 2025, announced they will co-chair a national campaign with the nonpartisan organization U.S. Term Limits.
U.S. Term Limits’ mission is to “enact term limits on all elected officials, especially the U.S. Congress.” The campaign aims to restore “accountability, competition and common sense on Capitol Hill.”
The op-ed highlights the frustrations felt by Americans over “endless stalemates and inability to find common ground,” arguing that Congress has become a “self-serving closed club of political insiders” rather than a true forum for ideas.
The Problem with Careerism
The pair dismissed other potential reforms, such as redistricting, as insufficient to solve what they describe as the fundamental problem of career politicians. They wrote that redrawing boundaries would do “little to curb the advantages incumbents enjoy,” such as name recognition and fundraising prowess, nor would it dismantle the “seniority system that stifles innovation.”
They further argued that the concentration of power among long-serving members “fuels partisanship by empowering lobbyists who profit off longstanding relationships,” ultimately increasing public cynicism about the U.S. government.
READ: Florida Sen. Scott Report Targets Dangerous U.S. Reliance On China, India Drugs
“Most members of Congress are, by any reasonable definition, career politicians,” they wrote. “We are the greatest nation on Earth; we deserve a Congress that reflects that greatness, not one that serves as a retirement home for career politicians.”
The median age of voting members of the House currently stands at 57.5 years, with the Senate’s median age at 64.7 years, according to a recent Pew Research Center analysis.
The push for term limits by the two former colleagues—one a prominent Republican Governor and former presidential primary candidate, and the other a wealthy Democratic businessman who recently ran for the Senate—underscores a growing, cross-party sentiment that time limits are necessary to inject fresh perspectives and greater responsiveness into the legislative branch.
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
