Congress is comprised of two parts, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Congressional term limits are legal restrictions on the amount of time that a person may serve as a Representative or Senator. Some term limits are consecutive, limiting the number of back-to-back terms that a person can hold. Term limits in congress may also restrict an individual to an absolute number of years in office during his or her lifetime.

Each member of the House of Representatives serves a two-year term. Senators are elected for six years. Many members of Congress have served multiple terms. Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia was elected the first time in 1958. The House of Representatives contains members that have been there for over 50 years.

While there are currently no term limits in Congress, the idea has been debated for many years. The discussion of term limits actually got its start in ancient times, when both Greeks and Romans imposed term limits on certain offices. Limiting terms of office was also a subject of debate among America’s Founding Fathers. Washington and Jefferson argued in support of term limits, while Madison and Hamilton opposed them.

In the elections of 1994, part of the Republican platform was to pass legislation setting term limits in Congress. After winning the majority, they brought a constitutional amendment to the House floor.

It limited members of the Senate to two six-year terms and members of the House to six two-year terms. Because the Republicans held 230 seats in the House, they were able to get a simple majority. However, constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority, or 290 votes, and the votes to restrict term limits in Congress fell short of that number.

In May of 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against term limits in Congress in the case of U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton. By a 5-4 vote, the justices found that states could not impose term limits in Congress. Since Congress had been unable to muster the required two-thirds majority needed for a constitutional amendment to pass, the matter did not come up in Congress again.

After the Supreme Court ruling, many Representatives made non-binding pledges to limit their own terms. Some of those Representatives stood by their word and left Congress, while others broke their pledges and continued to run for re-election.

The public is said to generally favor congressional term limits. A July 2003 Wall Street Journal poll found that two-thirds of Americans believed that term limits in Congress was a positive idea.