Drain the swamp? Trump calls on House to extend GOP term limits for committee chairs

WASHINGTON – Responding to a wave of retirements by GOP members of Congress, President Donald Trump called Monday for the House to change its rules to let senior lawmakers keep their committee chairmanships beyond the current six-year term limit.

Trump, who made "drain the swamp" a mantra of his 2016 campaign, said that the self-imposed limit "forces great people" to leave too early.

More than a dozen Republican lawmakers have announced retirements this year, opening up new races and complicating GOP efforts to take back the House in the 2020 presidential election. They include Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, the second-longest serving member of the House, and Rep. Bill Flores of Texas.

Trump tweeted Monday that the answer is to do away with the party's six-year, self-imposed limit on how long members can serve as chairs. The six-year limit was created in 1994 to ensure fresh leadership atop the most powerful committees on Capitol Hill.

"House Republicans should allow Chairs of Committees to remain for longer than 6 years. It forces great people, and real leaders, to leave after serving," the president tweeted. "The Dems have unlimited terms. While that has its own problems, it is a better way to go. Fewer people, in the end, will leave!"