politics

Sen. Rick Scott’s Big Idea: Impose congressional term limits

The Big Idea is a series that asks top lawmakers and officials to discuss their moonshot — what’s the one proposal, if politics and polls and even price tag were not an issue, they’d implement to change the country for the better?

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., says he doesn’t think that politicians should get to make careers out of working in Washington.

When the former two-term Florida governor, who before that worked in the private sector and before that was a member of the U.S. Navy, ran for U.S. Senate, working to impose term limits on Congress was one of his top pledges.

The term limits issue helped him unseat former Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who was first elected to serve in Congress in the 1970s. Now he’s back at it, but the proposal is one that faces significant obstacles to implementation, especially from Congress itself, whose members have not historically been eager to intentionally put themselves out of a job.

“And if you ask people, most people will say they’re for it,” Scott said of congressional efforts to set term limits. “The question is, will they do anything to move a bill along?”

Scott, for his part, has sponsored legislation that would impose term limits on members of Congress. The measure sets a three-term limit for the House and a two-term limit for the Senate. But congressional willingness is not the only hurdle.

A 1995 Supreme Court Case, U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton, held that the only way to impose term limits on Congress would be through a rare constitutional amendment — there have only been 27 in American history.

But Scott still says it’s possible and explained his big idea for congressional term limits to Fox News:

What is your Big Idea?

We have term limits for presidents. Most governors have term limits. I just finished my years as governor of Florida. We have term limits, our legislature there. We ought to do the same thing up here. We will bring in new ideas. You will be very focused on getting things done. I believe in terms, as an example in the governor’s office, because I knew that I had to get everything I wanted to get done in those eight years.

I really figured I had to get them done my first four years, I was hoping I’d get re-elected and I was able to do that. But I knew that there’s a limited amount of time. So it forced me to focus and get things done. I think we are to be doing the exact same things up here.

The president doesn’t have, you know, 30 years to get things done. The president has either four or eight years. And so I think we’re Congress ought to be the exact same position.

What would the benefit of getting fresh blood in Washington be?

You get new ideas. It’s not the same old ideas and the same people running everything. I think there ought to be a transition in leadership. And I think there ought to be new ideas all the time. And as we know, whether you’re leading in a company like what I used to do my business life, you bring in new ideas and, you know, ‘hey, I’ve got to get these things done as quickly as possible because I don’t know how long I’ll be in this position.’

“And if you ask people, most people will say they’re for it,” Scott said of congressional efforts to set term limits. “The question is, will they do anything to move a bill along?”

Scott, for his part, has sponsored legislation that would impose term limits on members of Congress. The measure sets a three-term limit for the House and a two-term limit for the Senate. But congressional willingness is not the only hurdle.

A 1995 Supreme Court Case, U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton, held that the only way to impose term limits on Congress would be through a rare constitutional amendment — there have only been 27 in American history.

But Scott still says it’s possible and explained his big idea for congressional term limits to Fox News:

What is your Big Idea?

We have term limits for presidents. Most governors have term limits. I just finished my years as governor of Florida. We have term limits, our legislature there. We ought to do the same thing up here. We will bring in new ideas. You will be very focused on getting things done. I believe in terms, as an example in the governor’s office, because I knew that I had to get everything I wanted to get done in those eight years.

I really figured I had to get them done my first four years, I was hoping I’d get re-elected and I was able to do that. But I knew that there’s a limited amount of time. So it forced me to focus and get things done. I think we are to be doing the exact same things up here.

The president doesn’t have, you know, 30 years to get things done. The president has either four or eight years. And so I think we’re Congress ought to be the exact same position.

What would the benefit of getting fresh blood in Washington be?

You get new ideas. It’s not the same old ideas and the same people running everything. I think there ought to be a transition in leadership. And I think there ought to be new ideas all the time. And as we know, whether you’re leading in a company like what I used to do my business life, you bring in new ideas and, you know, ‘hey, I’ve got to get these things done as quickly as possible because I don’t know how long I’ll be in this position.’

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