The Constitution was designed to be amended. It’s time we used that power not to fight each other, but to strengthen the country we all share.
The United States was born as a largely agrarian republic. Farm-related jobs made up about 90% of the workforce. Another 9% were blacksmiths, coopers, carpenters, sailors, fishermen, and dockworkers. Those who served as citizen-legislators would step into public office for a few seasons and then return home. When this nation was formed, public service was never meant to be a profession.
That nation has not existed since the 1920s. The country those early leaders built has transformed into a global superpower with a population 130 times larger, an economy unimaginable to the Founders, and a federal government that touches every corner of modern life.
What hasn’t changed, however, is the basic structure of our political offices. That is clearly a mismatch. And 250 years later, that mismatch has allowed public service to quietly morph into a lifetime career, complete with benefits, influence, and opportunities that can set individual politicians and their families up for life.
Today, members of Congress routinely serve for decades. Almost a fifth of the House of Representatives has members who have served for more than 20 years. In the Senate, almost a quarter of senators have completed three terms or more, and 37% are currently in at least their third term.
Age is another issue. About 12% of the House is over 72 years old. Twenty-five senators are over 70, and eight senators and thirteen representatives are 80 or older.
Presidents spend much of their first term campaigning for reelection. Fundraising never stops. Messaging never stops. The pursuit of power never stops.
Instead of citizen-legislators, we have professional politicians whose survival depends on perpetual campaigning, perpetual fundraising, and maintaining seniority, influence, and access.
Another issue is the Supreme Court. In the 1800s, the average length of service for a justice was about 15 years. Modern Supreme Court justices serve much longer. Clarence Thomas was confirmed in 1991, John Roberts in 2005, and Samuel Alito in 2006. Ruth Bader Ginsburg served for 27 years, until her death ended her term. Four of the nine current justices are over 70.
The number of Supreme Court appointments each president receives is also inconsistent. Jimmy Carter made no nominations. Some presidents received only one opportunity, while others appointed several justices. That means the long-term ideological direction of the Court can depend heavily on the timing of deaths and retirements rather than on any predictable constitutional structure.
This isn’t a partisan problem. It’s a structural one. And structural problems require structural solutions.
I have talked about an amendment to fix this, and I have been asked to explain what it would look like if I had my way.
Well, here you go:
Proposed 28th Amendment
Article I — Terms of Federal Office
Section 1. The President of the United States shall be elected to a single term of six years and shall be ineligible for reelection.
Section 2. Members of the Senate shall be elected to a single term of nine years.
Section 3. Members of the House of Representatives shall be elected to terms of three years and may serve multiple terms, subject to the limitations set forth in Section 4.
Section 4. No person shall be elected or appointed to the offices of President, Senator, or Representative if the term of that office would conclude after the individual’s seventy-fifth birthday, or if the individual has served fifteen years in elected federal office. Service in any combination of the three offices shall count toward this limit.
Article II — Supreme Court Structure and Tenure
Section 1. The Supreme Court of the United States shall consist of nine Justices.
Section 2. Each Justice shall serve a single term of eighteen years.
Section 3. One term shall expire every two years. The expiration of such terms shall coincide with the conclusion of the President’s first, third, and fifth year in office.
Section 4. Vacancies occurring by death, resignation, or incapacity shall be filled for the remainder of the term, and such service shall not disqualify the appointee from serving a full term under Section 2.
The way the United States Constitution was written reveals a clear theme: the Founders feared concentrated and permanent power.
Today, we do not have a monarchy, but we have developed something the Founders also would have recognized as dangerous: a permanent political class.
Our current system rewards longevity over leadership. Seniority becomes power. Power becomes permanence. And permanence creates a political class increasingly focused on survival rather than service.
Article I breaks that cycle.
A six-year presidency eliminates the reelection treadmill. Nine-year Senate terms allow expertise without entrenchment. Three-year House terms maintain accountability without forcing representatives into nonstop campaigning.
And the fifteen-year cap helps ensure that public service remains a contribution, not a lifelong occupation.
The other major issue is the Supreme Court. Ultimately, its authority rests heavily on public trust. It has no independent enforcement arm. Its power comes from the belief that its decisions are principled, fair, and independent.
But lifetime appointments that can now last forty years have turned each vacancy into a political earthquake. Confirmation battles have become national spectacles. Strategic retirements and unpredictable vacancies erode confidence in the Court’s neutrality.
Article II addresses that problem by establishing eighteen-year terms and a predictable appointment cycle: one justice every two years, with each president nominating three justices during a six-year term.
No more randomness. No more generational lock-in. Far less partisan brinkmanship over timing.
A Court that renews itself regularly is a Court the public can more readily trust.
A 28th Amendment would not rewrite the principles of our republic. It would strengthen them. It would create rotation in office, predictability in governance, and greater independence in the judiciary. Ultimately, it could help restore trust in institutions where that trust has badly eroded.
Most importantly, this amendment would not advantage Democrats or Republicans. It would advantage Americans.
If this amendment took effect before the 2028 midterms, a significant number of current senators and representatives would become ineligible under its age or service limits, and several long-serving Supreme Court seats would begin turning over on a predictable schedule.
But the point is not to remove particular people from power. It is to change a system that allows any person, party, or generation to hold power for too long.
The Founders understood that concentrated power eventually becomes self-protecting power, which is why they gave us a Constitution that could be amended as the country changed.
After 250 years, it is time to use that power again—not to weaken our institutions, but to renew them. Public office should once again be a period of service rather than a lifetime career, and political power should regularly return to the people from whom it came.
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