The Term Limit Catastrophe: Ted Cruz’s Massive “Brain Drain”

“In the nation’s capital, power will always remain; the only question is who has it.”

Senator Ted Cruz, who generally takes the correct stance on issues, is short-sighted and dead wrong when it comes to term limits. On his podcast Verdict, he continues to suggest that we desperately need a constitutional amendment that would prevent United States Senators from serving more than two six-year terms and House members from serving more than three two-year terms.

Consider his words: “Washington insiders get taxpayer money, and members of Congress get re-elected, all while the system fails the American people.” In Senator Cruz’s perfect world, congressional term limits would be the most viable solution for empowering the people. However, given today’s modus operandi on Capitol Hill, pairing term limits with the current administrative (read: deep) state would be a cataclysmic mistake, offering nothing more than a vast power transfer from the elected legislative branch to the unelected executive bureaucracy.

Congress’ abdication of its authority to the unelected bureaucracy, which former President Donald Trump monikered the “Washington swamp,” is nothing new but continues to get worse. In 1940, the federal government employed fewer than one million workers. Last year, that number surpassed three million. Think about it: For each House member, there are about 7,000 government bureaucrats. For every United States Senator, there are roughly 30,000 bureaucrats.

When one adds in federal government contractors (those who are not technically employees but are still paid by the federal government), that number is closer to seven million. With active-duty military and reserve forces included, the number jumps to more than nine million, which is roughly equivalent to Michigan’s entire population (the 10th largest state in the country).