Congress is a mess these days. I am not talking about politicians with whom I disagree on policy. The problem is the growing group of clearly unqualified people who somehow got elected to Congress. Many of them have little ability to understand policy, ethical issues, and who evidence temperaments incompatible with service in Congress. I call these legislators dysfunctional. They undermine the ability of Congress to do its work.
Currently, the Constitution provides minimum qualifications to serve in Congress. Article I, Section 2, clause 2 of the Constitution reads, “No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five Years and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.”
Qualifications to serve in the U.S. Senate are more detailed, but also minimal. “No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.”
It is not difficult to understand why so many obviously unqualified people have been elected to the House and Senate. More people are eligible to serve in Congress than not.
One solution to better screening candidates would be to amend the Constitution to add more qualifications. One simple example would be to specify that persons currently in federal or state prison cannot serve in Congress. In 2002, an Ohio Congressman, James Traficant, ran for Congress while serving an eight-year sentence for bribery and racketeering. He won 15 percent of the vote.
Other criteria would be trickier to write and enforce. Currently, in Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, and Nebraska, candidates have been accused of sexual assault, stalking, and domestic violence. Should the Constitution bar them from running for office? What if subsequent trials or disclosure of facts prove their innocence?
A better approach than the unwieldy and lengthy process of amending the Constitution would be to encourage a credible, neutral organization to assess the qualifications of individuals seeking election to Congress. The organization would develop a set of criteria against which to assess the suitability of individuals to serve in Congress. The vetting organization would then issue a report indicating whether candidates are qualified.
The process would be voluntary. Political parties and voters could ignore the findings of the organization, sometimes with good cause, but many clearly unqualified candidates would either be discouraged from running for office or would lose.
What might the organization conducting the assessments look like? Fortunately, a model exists–the American Bar Association (ABA). Acting through a specially composed committee, the ABA has been offering evaluations of the suitability of individuals to serve as federal judges since 1953.
Importantly, the ABA, does not endorse nominees or recommend them. It comments on individuals after they have been nominated for office. The ABA notes, “In conducting its evaluation of each nominee, the committee focuses strictly on professional qualifications: integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament. The Committee does not consider a nominee’s philosophy, political affiliation, or ideology. The Committee’s objective is to provide impartial peer evaluations of the professional qualifications of judicial nominees to assist the Senate Judiciary Committee in assessing whether such individuals should be confirmed by the Senate.”
In the case of judges, the President, and the Senate, which confirms judicial appointments, are free to ignore the ABA’s evaluation. That is the right approach.
The ABA would not be the best organization to assess Congressional candidates. Finding the right organization would itself be a challenge. The organization must have financial independence and a governance structure that ensures the integrity of the process.
An appropriate organization would need to select the criteria to use in measuring candidates’ qualifications. One good starting place would be the standards currently used by the ABA in evaluating judicial nominees. Three criteria used by the ABA are integrity, professional competence, and temperament.
The most important qualification to serve in Congress is integrity. In evaluating this qualification, the ABA looks at “the nominee’s character and general reputation in the legal community, as well as the nominee’s industry and diligence. “
As applied to individuals seeking to serve in Congress, individuals’ records would be examined. Does the individual have a criminal record? If in business, did he/she have a reputation for honesty? Were they successful? Do they have a solid record of complying with regulations?
A second category of criteria is professional competence. In evaluating individuals for the bench, the ABA looks at “such qualities as intellectual capacity, judgment, writing and analytical abilities, knowledge of the law, and breadth of professional experience.”
As applied to Congressional candidates, this evaluation might include a look at educational credentials, the individual’s communications skills, their experience in working with laws or in a legislative or governing body, and a summation of their professional experience.
There would be no wrong answers here, but an individual with 10 years of experience serving as a state legislator would be rated higher in that area than one with no prior experience in government. Similarly, a doctor might be viewed as having valuable professional experience that might benefit Congress as it considers healthcare legislation.
Congress benefits by having individuals with a broad diversity of professional experience. It benefits less from members with little experience in working on public policy or who evidence little interest in listening to and learning from others before deciding to run for Congress.
The final criteria is “temperament.” The ABA qualifications reference “judicial temperament,” but the criteria listed are equally applicable to serve in Congress. These criteria include, “the nominee’s compassion, decisiveness, open-mindedness, courtesy, patience, freedom from bias and commitment to equal justice under the law.”
I hope that both political parties will see the benefit of screening candidates. Both parties have suffered from “unqualified” people running for office. I will spare readers listing names of incompetent members of Congress. I will note, however, that the two best-known Democrats running for the First District seat in the House of Representatives would be deemed “qualified” or “highly qualified.” That is my opinion.
I would not expect Andy “Handgun” Harris to be deemed “qualified” based on his blind loyalty to the defeated ex-president, Trump, and for attempting to carry a loaded handgun onto the floor of the House of Representatives. Legislators with balanced temperaments and sound judgment do not do things like that.
J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, birds, and other subjects.
Bill Anderson says
Mr. Dean — Your point is well taken, but as presently constructed, the constitution applies very minimal standards against which to measure congressional and senate candidates. Otherwise, it is simply a popularity contest amongst the candidates. Unfortunately, all Americans are permitted to cast a ballot to elect any of them and the voters are often less qualified than the candidates for office, which can ascertain an unfortunate outcome. But yet, it is the way it is and by the way, it extends to the election of presidents. Our present circumstance proves the problem with the method.
John Dean says
Thank you for reading the piece and for your comment. I agree that the Constitution provides minimum standards for both legislators and the president, but believe something needs to be done, even voluntary “ratings” like those provided by the American Bar Association for judicial nominees.
Non-binding evaluations will not prevent unqualified people from getting elected but will reduce the number of them that make it to Congress.
Beryl Smith says
Unfortunately, Andy Harris was elected to congress many years before he decided to carry a handgun into the halls of justice and well before he decided that it was fine for him to prescribe horse deworming medicine to supposedly cure covid infections. He was already there and now we seem to be stuck with him because all too many voters are not studying issues and candidate responses but rather are voting only for a party or a familiar name. What would you do about that?
John Dean says
Thank you for your comment. I like to think that if a credible, independent organization rated legislators unqualified candidates would be less likely to win. No guarantees, but less likely to win.
In the case of Harris, I believe he would be found to be “unqualified” based on his behavior.
I wish I had a solution that would block unqualified people from getting elected, but the Constitution intends for voters to be able to select their representatives. My proposal reflects the conclusion that voters need help in evaluating candidates–just as the ABA ratings of judicial nominees “helps” the Senate evaluate nominees.
Thanks for your comment.