Never Reelect Anyone

Term Limits at the Federal Level

Let's start with the first question:  Is there anything about Federal Elective Office which requires re-election of elected officials?  The US Constitution does not mandate re-election and does not particularly expect or anticipate re-election; but likewise did not prohibit re-election until the passage of the 22nd Amendment.  Tradition has identified first-term representatives as Freshmen but there is nothing Constitutionally preventing a Freshman representative from performing any function that otherwise are reserved for Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors or longer-term representatives.  The same is true for the tradition of referring to Junior and Senior Senators, although in this case - with overlapping six-year terms that start at two-year intervals - there always will be a more experienced senator and a lesser experienced senator from every state.  In this way the Constitution sets forth the longer term expectations that Senators carry on a more consistent approach with nor more than one third of the group being replaced in any election cycle.

I propose that the Senate model, of overlapping six-year terms, is in fact all of the continuity required for effective adherence to the Constitution.  In other words, there is no essential need for any Federal elected official to serve more than a single term.