Term limits for committee posts struggle to find Democratic support
Nearly two dozen House Democrats pushed back Tuesday against a movement to impose term limits for the partyâs senior committee slots. âMember after member member after member got up to criticizeâ the idea when it came up Tuesday morning at a closed-door meeting of the Democratic Caucus Committee on Organization, Study and Review, said Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, who opposes term limits. No members who support changing the Democratâs longstanding seniority system spoke out, according to several sources in the meeting. Story Continued Below âI was wondering where the supporters were,â Nadler said. He said he opposes term limits for ranking members or chairmen because staying on a panel allows lawmakers to develop expertise on complex policy issues. The change would also make fundraising and loyalty to leadership more important, he argued, adding that lawmakers decided which panels to stay on based on the current system. The committee recently announced that it would hold a series of private sessions to examine the partyâs governing rules. Chief among the issues is term limits, which has pitted junior members against longer-serving lawmakers and members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Also discussed Tuesday was how the Democratic caucus ranks the importance of certain committees. Reps. Mike Thompson of California, Carolyn Maloney of New York, Frank Pallone of New Jersey and G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, who chairs the CBC, were among the members who attended. Several members said the panel should re-evaluate what constitutes an âexclusive committeeâ that handles the most important policy issues, according to a source in the room. Rep. Karen Bass, who chairs the Democratsâ governing committee, said the panel will hold several more meetings before making any recommendations. âWe see this as a process that will last a bit,â the California Democrat said.