Progressive rep: Two-year House terms ‘incredibly wasteful and counterproductive’

Progressive Rep. Summer Lee (D-Penn.) on Monday blasted two-year terms in the House of Representatives, arguing it shuts out many candidates and benefits the wealthy.

“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but 2-year terms are incredibly wasteful and counterproductive… but it benefits the wealthy and powerful, so it’ll probably never change,” Lee wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Lee said the high cost of running a campaign ends up shutting out working-class voters and candidates. She also argued that it pushes lawmakers to be full-time fundraisers, “focusing more on keeping their job than doing their job.”

“2yr terms mean a rep is running +raising $ every yr. Since citizens united, every cycle is exceeding records,” she wrote, referencing the 2010 Supreme Court decision.

“Congressional races can be multi millions, locking out not just working class candidates, but working class voters who can’t afford to compete w/dark money influence,” Lee added.

“It also means that legislators are permanent candidates, focusing more on keeping their job than doing their job. Very many reps do call time as a full-time job. 20-40 hours/week. They also have to weigh the interests of donors over constituents bc of the brevity of term.”

According to the FEC, the 345 Senate candidates in 2021-2022 reported receipts totaling $1.3 billion and disbursements of $1.1 billion. The 2,306 House candidates reported total receipts of $1.8 billion and disbursements of $1.5 billion. 

Campaign donations have skyrocketed since the Supreme Court ruled that political spending is a form of free speech and that therefore corporations and unions can spend an unlimited amount of money in campaigns, though the money can’t go directly to candidates. 

Campaign spending by corporations and outside groups reportedly increased by nearly 900 percent from 2008 to 2016.

A report also shows billionaires spent $1.2 billion on the 2020 election, which is about 70 times what billionaires spent on campaign donations in 2008, at $17 million.