Congressional Term Limits Amendment — Reference Draft (Rev. 3.1C)

Last updated: December 2025

This document is provided as a neutral reference draft for analysis and discussion of congressional term-limit structures. It is not affiliated with any organization, campaign, or advocacy effort, and it is not presented as a proposal for adoption.

The draft is shared to support clarity in discussions of equal application, aggregation of service, and transition design in congressional term-limit amendments. It exists to reduce ambiguity when such issues arise in academic, legal, or policy contexts.

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Reference Draft Text

(Full text of the Congressional Term Limits Amendment — Rev. 3.1C appears below.)

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Section 1. Equal Limit

No person shall be elected to the House of Representatives more than three times, nor to the Senate more than two times. No person may evade these limits by alternating between chambers.

Section 2. Transitional Application

Any person serving in the House of Representatives or the Senate at the time of ratification who would become ineligible for election under Section 1 at the next election for that office may be elected one additional time.

This allowance shall apply only to the first election for which such person is eligible following ratification. If not exercised at that election, the allowance shall expire.

All prior service shall be counted toward the limits established in this Article, and no reset of terms shall occur.

Section 3. Counting of Elections and Service

For purposes of this Article:

(a) All service in the House of Representatives or the Senate, whether commenced by election or appointment, whether occurring before or after ratification, shall be counted toward the limits established in Section 1.

(b) Service during more than one-half of any term shall be counted as one election for that chamber.

(c) Resignation, retirement, defeat, or any period of non-service shall not reset eligibility; all prior service remains counted for any future election.

(d) Service in any House district shall be aggregated as House service, and service representing any State shall be aggregated as Senate service.

Section 4. Anti-Circumvention

No interpretation, procedure, or action shall extend eligibility beyond the limits established in Section 1.

Without limitation, the following shall not be permitted to evade the limits imposed by this Article:

(a) changing chambers;

(b) sequencing or alternating elections between chambers;

(c) resignation, retirement, or temporary withdrawal from office;

(d) characterizing service as elected, appointed, partial, or otherwise to exclude it from counting under this Article.

Section 5. Limitation on Congressional Authority; State Coordination

Congress shall have no power to waive, suspend, extend, or otherwise modify the limits imposed by this Article.

States may voluntarily cooperate to share information, including factual records of prior elections, regarding the ministerial application of this Article in the conduct of elections.

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Revision Notes

Revision: 3.1C

Status: Reference draft

Scope: Congressional offices only

Purpose: Structural clarity for analytical use

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Use and Attribution

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