House GOP Mulls Term Limits for Leadership

Many Republicans support term limits in one form or another, and now the House GOP’s transition team is looking at term limits for leadership posts. Incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., [pictured] tells The Hill he’s “supportive of what’s being proposed, which is a six-year term limit for each position.”

The limits would resemble those now applying to Republican committee chairmen and ranking members. But staff lawyers informed transition team chairman Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., that term limits for speaker of the House present a constitutional problem, because the speaker is second in line, behind the vice president, to succeed the president in case of emergency.

“There is a constitutional question when it comes to speaker that would trump rules of the House. There is no limitation on Speaker’s service in the Constitution, I am told by lawyers,” Walden says.