The PledgeQualified
Congressional Term Limits
This is a research page. Bill numbers belong to the 119th Congress and expire when the 120th Congress is seated in January 2027.
What this plank asks for
Congress passes a joint resolution that proposes a constitutional amendment. The amendment limits the number of terms a member of the House and the Senate may serve. Congress then refers it to the states for ratification. The pledge asks signers for the vote in Congress. Ratification by the states is a separate step.
Where it stands
QUALIFIED
Four polling groups on the Qualifying Pollster List clear 70% nationally and 60% in each party. Pew found 87%, Grinnell College's poll found 86%, Reuters/Ipsos found 89%, and Marist found 83%. Three is the minimum the Consensus Test accepts, so the status holds if one poll stops counting. Another poll, from Rasmussen, found 69% nationally. That is under the line, and it is shown in the table.
The four pollsters counted today are Pew, the Grinnell College National Poll by Selzer, Reuters/Ipsos and Marist. An earlier pollster left the list under the ratified rules. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was added on October 16 after a check of its published results. Grinnell states its questions are co-authored by college students and faculty. The founder ruled on October 19, 2026 that the Grinnell College National Poll is admitted, with Selzer & Co. as the pollster of record and the field house.
The founder reviewed this status and accepted it on October 19, 2026.
What moves it: The status falls to pending if two of the four counting polls stop counting, if no counting poll sits inside the 12-month window once the Marist poll leaves it after April 30, 2027, or if a second counting poll reads under a line.
The evidence
| Pollster | Fieldwork | Question asked | National | Republicans | Democrats | Independents | Counts toward the test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pew Research Center | July 10-16, 2023 | "Limiting the number of terms that members of Congress can serve" (favor or oppose, one item in a list of proposed changes) | 87% | 90% | 86% | Not published | Yes |
| Grinnell College National Poll, run by Selzer & Co. | October 10-15, 2023 | "Set limits on how many years senators and representatives can serve in Congress" (favor or oppose a suggested revision to the U.S. Constitution, one item in a list of four) | 86% | 88% | 85% | 86% | Yes |
| NPR/PBS News/Marist | April 27-30, 2026 | "How much would you support or oppose term limits for members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate..." | 83% | 89% | 78% | 84% | Yes |
| Reuters/Ipsos, run by Ipsos | February 18-23, 2026 | "To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Members of Congress should have term limits" (agree or disagree, one of four statements about age and Congress) | 89% | 94% | 90% | 85% | Yes |
| Rasmussen Reports | July 15 and 18-19, 2026 | "Do you favor or oppose establishing term limits for all members of Congress?" | 69% | Behind a paywall | Behind a paywall | Behind a paywall | No, below the 70 line, shown as a disclosed outlier |
| Program for Public Consultation, University of Maryland | February 1-14, 2023 | "Do you favor or oppose an amendment to the US Constitution to limit the number of terms that a Senator or House Member can serve?" | 83.0% | 85.9% | 79.7% | 83.6% | No, pollster not admitted |
| McLaughlin & Associates for U.S. Term Limits | January 22-27, 2025 | "Do you approve or disapprove of placing term limits on members of Congress?" | 83% | 85.2% | 78.7% | 84.7% | No, paid by a movement |
| UMass Amherst Poll | August 21-26, 2026 | Pick the three most important reforms from a list of nine, which includes term limits | 32% picked it first | Not published | Not published | Not published | No, pollster not admitted |
Across the four polls that count, the median is 86.5% nationally, 89.5% among Republicans and 85.5% among Democrats. With the Rasmussen reading added, the national median is 86%. The newest counting polls were fielded February 18-23, 2026 (Reuters/Ipsos) and April 27-30, 2026 (Marist). Both are inside the 12-month window. Reuters/Ipsos leaves it on February 23, 2027 and Marist leaves it on April 30, 2027. The four polls span 33 months. Party figures for Pew and Grinnell include independents who lean toward a party. Reuters/Ipsos does not say how it treats them.
The five tests
- Consensus: PASS. Four counting polls have medians of 86.5%, 89.5% and 85.5%, over 33 months, with two fielded in 2026.
- Action: PASS. Congress can pass a joint resolution that proposes an amendment.
- Outcome: PASS. The plank names the vote, and the bar is two thirds of each chamber.
- Grading: PASS. Each member's votes and actions in their own chamber are on the public record.
- Single-Subject: PASS. The plank asks for one outcome, a limit on terms. Age limits are a different outcome and a different plank.
In Congress right now
We checked congress.gov on October 16, 2026. These are the resolutions we found. None has had a hearing, a markup or a vote.
- H.J.Res.12 (House): 115 cosponsors, 107 Republicans and 8 Democrats. Referred to the House Judiciary Committee on January 6, 2025. Newest cosponsor added July 9, 2026. Vehicle status: no determination yet.
- H.J.Res.5 (House): 2 cosponsors, both Democrats. The sponsor is a Republican. Referred to the House Judiciary Committee on January 3, 2025. Newest cosponsor added October 15, 2026. Its text exempts members who served before the 118th Congress. Vehicle status: no determination yet.
- S.J.Res.1 (Senate): 19 cosponsors, all Republicans. Referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 7, 2025. Newest cosponsor added October 23, 2025. Vehicle status: no determination yet.
- S.J.Res.48, H.J.Res.120 and S.J.Res.2 also sit in committee with no action. H.J.Res.120 limits "consecutive terms". The official title of S.J.Res.2 names two other subjects. Vehicle status: no determination yet on any of them.
Bill numbers above belong to the 119th Congress. They expire when the 120th Congress is seated in January 2027. The plank does not.
How signers would be graded
An amendment needs two thirds of each chamber. That is 290 of 435 House members and 67 of 100 senators if all vote. The President does not sign it. Then 38 of 50 states must ratify. No group of signers can reach two thirds alone.
House levers: signing a discharge petition (218 signatures), rules votes and previous-question votes that decide if the resolution reaches the floor, the floor vote, and Judiciary Committee votes where they are recorded.
Senate levers: cloture votes (60 of 100), the floor vote, and unanimous consent conduct, meaning whether a senator consents to floor consideration or objects. No confirmation standard applies to this plank.
A member is graded on the levers that member holds, not on the result. You can check each signer's record on every lever above.
Lines of attack and our answers
Attack: "Rasmussen found only 69%."
Answer: That poll is in the table. It is 1 point under the line. Four counting polls found 83% to 89%. The rules allow one reading under the line if it is shown.
Attack: "Pew, Marist, Reuters/Ipsos and Rasmussen never mention an amendment."
Answer: Grinnell asks about a change to the Constitution and found 86%. In 1995 the Supreme Court held that neither Congress nor a state can add to the qualifications for Congress that the Constitution lists. An amendment is the route left.
Attack: "Grinnell asked about years, not terms."
Answer: A House term is two years and a Senate term is six. Both wordings cap how long a member serves. We count it and say so here. If it did not count, three polls would remain and the status would hold.
Attack: "A term-limits group paid for these numbers."
Answer: None of the four counting polls was paid for by a term-limits group. One poll paid for by U.S. Term Limits found 83% and does not count.
Attack: "Reuters/Ipsos found 89% and Rasmussen found 69%, so the question does not work."
Answer: Reuters/Ipsos asked people to agree or disagree and 3% skipped. Rasmussen offered an undecided choice and 15% took it. Among people who gave an answer, the gap is 92% against 81%. Rasmussen does not count toward the minimum.
Attack: "Only Republicans back it."
Answer: In each counting poll, at least 88% of Republicans and at least 78% of Democrats are in favor. One House resolution has 8 Democrats among its 115 cosponsors. In the Senate resolution, all 19 cosponsors are Republicans.
Sources
- Pew report: pewresearch.org
- Pew topline: pewresearch.org
- Grinnell College release: grinnell.edu
- Grinnell College topline and methodology: grinnell.edu
- Grinnell College crosstabs: grinnell.edu
- Marist release: maristpoll.marist.edu
- Marist tables: maristpoll.marist.edu
- Reuters/Ipsos Large Sample Survey topline, February 2026 (table TM3369Y26_2, page 22): ipsos.com
- Rasmussen release: rasmussenreports.com
- Rasmussen question wording: rasmussenreports.com
- Program for Public Consultation questionnaire: publicconsultation.org
- U.S. Term Limits poll summary, copy filed with the Kansas Senate: kslegislature.gov
- UMass Amherst toplines: umass.edu
- H.J.Res.12: congress.gov
- H.J.Res.5: congress.gov
- S.J.Res.1: congress.gov
- S.J.Res.48: congress.gov
- H.J.Res.120: congress.gov
- S.J.Res.2: congress.gov
- U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995): tile.loc.gov
Last updated October 19, 2026. Criteria version: Draft 3, ratified October 16, 2026.