Does Removal of Term Limits Portend Revival of Committee System?

• By Don Wolfensberger
• Roll Call Contributing Writer
• Feb. 17, 2009, Midnight

One of the changes made in the new House rules adopted last month was the abolition of term limits for committee and subcommittee chairmen. Republicans had instituted the six-year limits when they took control of Congress in 1995. The rationale was that the veteran chairmen became too closely associated with the agencies and private entities that they were supposed to oversee. Republicans vowed to break that “iron triangle” to ensure that committees were accountable first and foremost to Congress and the American people.