I recently read the original 1972 edition of Mark Green’s ground-breaking book Who Runs Congress? and though more than 50 years have passed, Congress is just as broken today as it was then. One continuing reason? Tenure and the direct link between seniority and power.
In most workplaces, employees hope the best rise to the top. Length of service is sometimes a factor for becoming a leader, but few modern organizations have senior managers or executives who’ve been around for, say, 30 years or have become leaders solely because of their decades-long tenure. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average tenure for an American worker across all industries was just 3.9 years in 2024.
That means the American workforce is transitory, with most leaders gaining experience at many different companies and organizations. Their expertise is based on broad cross-industry experience, not simple tenure and gamesmanship.
Not so for Congress.
The average tenure for U.S. Senators who today lead the 16 most powerful committees – such as Armed Services, Budget, Commerce, Finance and Veterans Affairs – is nearly 25 years. In the U.S. House of Representatives, committee chairs have an average tenure of more than 15 years. That tenure often comes from getting re-elected from “safe” districts where one political party dominates. It’s true for both Democrats and Republicans.
In Congress, if you manage to stick around long enough without pissing off senior leaders and the lobbyists whose money keeps you in office, chances are good you’ll ascend to a committee chairmanship. Not necessarily because you have the best ideas, but merely because you’ve put in the time and quite literally learned to play the game.
Meanwhile, those newly elected to the House with just a few years under their belts – and also the folks with the most recent real-world experience and ideas – are forced to sit on the sidelines. Most don’t sponsor bills that become laws, garner national media attention or get their voices heard in the halls of the Capitol. Instead, they’re relegated to the fringes, learning to play insider political baseball while waiting for time to pass so they, too, can amass the kind of chronological tenure that will ultimately place them in positions of power.
Some of the committee chairs are household names – like Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME, Appropriations), Lindsey Graham (R-SC, Budget) and Ted Cruz (R-TX, Commerce) or Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH, Judiciary) – but most you’ve never heard of. Yet, because of their time in Congress and not any particular set of skills, they pull all the strings. Committee chairs wield out-sized power to decide what, if anything, ever makes it to the floor of either chamber for a vote. Instead, their tenure ensures they have long ties to special-interest lobbyists, oodles of money, and self-defined rules that ensure the status quo.
The bottom line is that tenure, not practical experience and good ideas, is what gives members of Congress their authority and power, and there’s no end in sight – for either of the major political parties – to alter that calculus. There’s simply no benefit to incumbents to switch to a meritocracy (if such a thing could be defined in the Capitol Building), and no urgency among voters to give the boot to their long-tenured politicians.
| Committee | Chair | Party-State | Tenure | Service dates |
| Agriculture | Glenn Thompson | (R-PA) | 17 | 2009-present |
| Appropriations | Tom Cole | (R-OK) | 23 | 2003-present |
| Armed Services | Mike Rogers | (R-AL) | 23 | 2003-present |
| Budget | Jodey Arrington | (R-TX) | 9 | 2017-present |
| Education and the Workforce | Tim Walberg | (R-MI) | 17 | 2009-present |
| Energy & Commerce | Brett Guthrie | (R-KY) | 17 | 2009-present |
| House Administration | Bryan Steil | (R-WI) | 7 | 2019-present |
| Judiciary | Jim Jordan | (R-OH) | 19 | 2007-present |
| Natural Resources | Bruce Westerman | (R-AR) | 11 | 2015-present |
| Oversight and Accountability | James Comer | (R-KY) | 9 | 2017-present |
| Rules | Virginia Foxx | (R-NC) | 21 | 2005-present |
| Science, Space & Technology | Brian Babin | (R-TX) | 11 | 2015-present |
| Small Business | Roger Williams | (R-TX) | 13 | 2013-present |
| Transportation & Infrastructure | Sam Graves | (R-MO) | 25 | 2001-present |
| Veterans’ Affairs | Mike Bost | (R-IL) | 11 | 2015-present |
| Ways and Means | Jason Smith | (R-MO) | 13 | 2013-present |
| Committee | Chair | Party-State | Tenure | Service dates |
| Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry | John Boozman | (R-AR) | 25 | House 2001–2011; Senate 2011–present |
| Appropriations | Susan Collins | (R-ME) | 29 | House 1997-1996; Senate 1996-present |
| Armed Services | Roger Wicker | (R-MS) | 31 | House 1995–2007; Senate 2007–present |
| Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs | Tim Scott | (R-SC) | 15 | House 2011-2013; Senate 2013–present |
| Budget | Lindsey Graham | (R-SC) | 31 | House 1995–2003; Senate 2003–present |
| Commerce, Science & Transportation | Ted Cruz | (R-TX | 13 | Senate 2013-present |
| Energy & Natural Resources | Mike Lee | (R-UT) | 15 | Senate 2011-present |
| Environment & Public Works | Shelley Moore Capito | (R-WV) | 25 | House service 2001–2015; Senate 2015-present |
| Finance | Mike Crapo | (R-ID) | 33 | House 1993-1999; Senate 1999-present |
| Foreign Relations | Jim Risch | (R-ID) | 17 | Senate 2009-present |
| Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) | Bill Cassidy | (R-LA) | 17 | House 2009-2015; Senate 2015-present |
| Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs | Rand Paul | (R-KY) | 15 | Senate 2011-present |
| Judiciary | Chuck Grassley | (R-IA) | 51 | House 1975-1981; Senate 1981-present |
| Rules & Administration | Mitch McConnell | (R-KY) | 41 | Senate 1985-present |
| Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Joni Ernst | (R-IA) | 11 | Senate 2015-present |
| Veterans’ Affairs | Jerry Moran | (R-KS) | 29 | House 1997-2011; Senate 2011-present |