Imagine you have a coworker who shows up late, does nothing all day, votes against the interests of the company, takes bribes from competitors, and cannot be fired — no matter how badly he performs.

That is the United States Congress.

The approval rating of Congress hovers around 20%. Yet the reelection rate for incumbents is consistently above 90%. How is this possible? How can a group of people be hated by nearly everyone and still keep their jobs?

The answer is simple: the system is designed to protect them, not to serve you.

The Fraud of Representation

Members of Congress are supposed to represent the people. Instead, they represent their donors, their party, and their own bank accounts.

• A congressman takes millions from pharmaceutical companies and votes against lower drug prices.
• A senator takes millions from Wall Street and votes against regulating banks.
• A representative takes millions from defense contractors and votes for endless wars.

When confronted, they give speeches about “doing what is best for the American people.” Meanwhile, they get rich on insider stock trades, receive gold-plated healthcare that they deny to others, and retire with generous pensions paid by the same taxpayers they ignored.

They serve special interests, not the people. And there is almost nothing we can do about it.

Why They Cannot Be Fired

In any normal job, failure means termination. In Congress, failure is rewarded.

1. No Recall for Federal Office

The U.S. Constitution provides no mechanism to recall a member of Congress. If your senator votes against your interests on day one of a six-year term, you cannot sign a petition to remove him. You cannot force a new election. You have to wait six years — and by then, he will have raised millions of dollars, gerrymandered the district, and secured his reelection.

2. Expulsion Requires a Two-Thirds Vote

Congress can expel its own members, but it requires a two-thirds majority. This is reserved for convicted criminals and traitors — not for incompetence, not for corruption, not for selling out their constituents. A congressman could miss every vote for an entire term and never face expulsion.

3. The Incumbency Machine

Over 90% of incumbents who run for reelection win. This is not because people love them. It is because:

• Gerrymandering: Politicians draw district lines to ensure their party keeps power. In most districts, the real election is the primary, not the general — and primaries reward extremism, not competence.
• Money: Incumbents have massive fundraising advantages. Corporate donors give to whoever is in power because they want access. Challengers cannot compete.
• Name recognition: Incumbents get free media coverage, free mailing privileges, and a built-in platform that challengers cannot match.
• Voter fatigue: Most people are too busy working, raising families, and surviving to track every vote their representative makes.

The result is a permanent political class that is effectively immune to voter anger.

Above the Law: How Politicians Play by Different Rules

While ordinary citizens face real consequences for breaking the law, members of Congress have created a system where they are effectively above it.

Insider Trading Is Legal for Them

The Stock Act was supposed to stop members of Congress from using non-public information to trade stocks. But enforcement is weak, loopholes are everywhere, and members continue to trade stocks in industries they regulate with impunity. A congressman can learn that a defense contract is coming, buy stock in the company, and face no consequences.

They Vote on Their Own Pay and Benefits

While minimum wage workers struggle to afford rent, members of Congress vote on their own salaries, their own healthcare plans, and their own pensions. They receive the best healthcare in the country while voting against expanding healthcare for everyone else.

Ethics Investigations Are a Joke

The House and Senate ethics committees are staffed by members of Congress — investigating their own colleagues. Unsurprisingly, almost no one is ever punished. The rare cases that do result in punishment usually involve members who have already been criminally indicted.

The Cognitive Failure: Unfit and Unaccountable

The average age of U.S. senators is 64 years old. The Senate is often called “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” but it is also the world’s most expensive retirement home.

We see it with our own eyes. Senators who cannot remember basic facts. Representatives who appear confused during hearings. Leaders who are clearly in cognitive decline but remain in power because removing them would require admitting there is a problem.

The argument for mandatory cognitive testing is simple: we require truck drivers, airline pilots, and even school bus drivers to pass regular health and competency exams. But the people who control nuclear weapons, approve budgets, and make laws that affect 330 million people face no such requirement.

The Constitution sets the minimum age to serve — 25 for the House, 30 for the Senate. But there is no maximum age. There is no competency test. There is no mental fitness requirement. A senator with advanced dementia can continue to vote on legislation that affects the entire world.

Opponents of testing argue that the election is the test. But when incumbency guarantees a 90% reelection rate regardless of performance, the election is not a test — it is a formality.

The Reform We Need

1. Term Limits, Time Limits, and Age Limits

No one should serve more than 12 years total in Congress — two terms in the Senate, six terms in the House. This is not radical. The President is limited to eight years. Most governors are limited. The Supreme Court should have term limits too. Power corrupts, and the longer someone holds power, the more corrupt they become.

But term limits alone are not enough. We also need:

• Time limits: No one over the age of 75 should be allowed to hold federal office. The average senator is 64. Some are in their 80s and 90s, clearly in cognitive decline, yet still voting on legislation that affects 330 million Americans. We have minimum age requirements (25 for House, 30 for Senate). We need maximum age requirements too.
• Mandatory retirement age of 75 for all federal judges, including Supreme Court justices. Lifetime appointments were designed for a time when life expectancy was 60 years. Today, justices serve for 30, 40, or even 50 years — far beyond what the Founders imagined.
• No more career politicians. If you have served 12 years in Congress, you are done. Go home. Live under the laws you passed. Let new blood, new ideas, and new energy into the system.

The argument against term limits is that voters should be free to choose whoever they want. But when incumbency guarantees a 90% reelection rate through gerrymandering, donor money, and name recognition, the choice is not free — it is manufactured. Term limits break the stranglehold of the permanent political class.

2. National Recall Amendment

We need a constitutional amendment allowing voters to recall federal officials. If a sufficient percentage of constituents sign a petition, a new election should be triggered. This gives voters real power between election cycles and keeps politicians honest.

3. Mandatory Competency Exams

Every candidate for federal office must pass a basic competency exam covering:

• The Constitution and Bill of Rights.
• The structure and function of the federal government.
• Basic economics and civics.

Once elected, members must pass a cognitive fitness exam annually. Failure means immediate suspension until they pass. Two consecutive failures means removal.

We require this of pilots, doctors, and truck drivers. We should require it of the people who run the country.

4. Ban Congressional Stock Trading

No member of Congress or their immediate family should be allowed to own or trade individual stocks. They should be required to put their assets in a blind trust. If they have access to non-public information that moves markets, they should not be allowed to profit from it.

5. End Lifetime Pensions and Gold-Plated Healthcare

Members of Congress should receive the same healthcare and retirement benefits as the average American worker. If they vote to cut Social Security or Medicare, those cuts should apply to them first.

6. Citizen Juries for Ethical Violations

Ethics investigations should be conducted by randomly selected citizen juries, not by other politicians. If an independent panel of ordinary citizens finds that a member of Congress has violated ethical standards, that member should be removed.

7. Public Financing of Elections

As long as elections are funded by private money, politicians will serve private interests. Public financing of elections — where every candidate receives equal funding and no outside donations are allowed — would break the connection between wealth and political power.

What a Real Representative Looks Like

We deserve representatives who:

• Live under the same laws they vote for.
• Receive the same healthcare and retirement as their constituents.
• Cannot profit from insider knowledge.
• Can be removed if they fail to serve.
• Pass competency and fitness exams regularly.
• Are limited in how long they can hold power.
• Step down at age 75 — because running a country requires mental sharpness, and no one is as sharp at 85 as they were at 55.

None of these ideas are radical. They are common sense. They are what any well-run organization would demand of its employees. The only reason they do not exist is that the people who would have to pass them are the same people who would lose power as a result.

And that is exactly why we must demand them anyway.

The Biblical Perspective

The Bible is clear about the responsibility of rulers and the judgment they face:

“When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.” — Proverbs 29:2

“The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.’” — 2 Samuel 23:3

“If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will be established forever.” — Proverbs 29:14

When our rulers serve themselves instead of the people, when they enrich themselves at our expense, when they make themselves immune to accountability — they are not ruling in the fear of God. They are ruling in the fear of losing their power. And a system that protects them is not a democracy. It is an aristocracy.

Conclusion

A 20% approval rating with a 90% reelection rate is not democracy. It is a permanent ruling class that has learned to ignore the people it supposedly serves.

They cannot be fired. They cannot be recalled. They trade stocks with insider information, receive gold-plated benefits, and retire with generous pensions — all while the people who elected them struggle to afford rent and healthcare.

This must end.

Term limits. Age limits. Recalls. Competency tests. Stock trading bans. Citizen ethics juries. Public financing. Every one of these reforms puts power back where it belongs — in the hands of the people.

The politicians will never pass these reforms willingly. They benefit from the current system. That is why the demand for change must come from outside Washington. It must come from the people. It must come from us.

Fire them all. Not at the ballot box every six years — but whenever they fail, whenever they steal, whenever they forget who they work for.

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