Lori Trahan

Drivers on Interstate 93 in Methuen are once again seeing US Representative Lori Trahan’s face staring out from a billboard accusing her of breaking her promise to back congressional term limits.

It’s the second time in two years that the national advocacy group U.S. Term Limits has singled out the Lowell Westford Democrat in the exact same spot, after running a similar sign in early 2023, according to the Lowell Sun.

The campaign centers on House Joint Resolution 12 filed in January 2025 by Republican Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and a companion measure in the Senate, introduced by Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz. The proposal would amend the Constitution to cap House members at three terms and senators at two.

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Trahan, whose third congressional district includes Lowell and other parts of the Merrimack Valley, signed the pledge, along with hundreds of other congress members, during her first run for Congress in 2018.

Currently, there are no limits on how long lawmakers can serve, allowing some to remain in office for decades—like Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who served more than 56 years, and Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, who served nearly 60 and holds the record for longest-serving member of Congress.

So far, 97 lawmakers, most of them Republicans, have signed on. Of the resolution’s 97 co-sponsors, only six are Democrats and Trahan is not among them.

Efforts to impose congressional term limits date back to 1995, when the Supreme Court ruled in U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton that states cannot set limits on federal lawmakers, leaving a constitutional amendment — requiring two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of states — as the only path.

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“Trahan pledged that she would support the U.S. Term Limits amendment limiting congressional terms,” USTL CEO Nicolas Tomboulides said in a press release. “Yet she broke her pledge. The people of Massachusetts deserve to know how Representative Trahan is playing the D.C. game.”

Scott Tillman, the group’s chief operating officer, said the pledge isn’t legally binding but represents a broken promise. “This is a very specific pledge to co-sponsor the amendment that would apply to everybody equally,” he said in an interview. “We’re not getting on anybody’s case about not leaving Congress.”

When asked to comment, Trahan, who declined an interview, she did not directly address the billboard nor whether her stance on congressional term limits has changed.

“Congresswoman Trahan ran for Congress because Washington isn’t working, and she is committed to lowering costs and creating opportunities for working families like the one she grew up in,” a spokesperson from her office said.

The spokesperson went on to say that Trahan will continue to back reforms that “finally make government work better” such as banning lawmakers from trading stocks and increasing scrutiny of Donald Trump and his family’s financial dealings.

Still, advocates like USTL argue that public opinion is on their side. Polling from Pew Research Center from 2023 shows more than 80% of Americans support term limits.

“Anytime you get an issue over 60%, that’s pretty overwhelming. And when you got an issue that’s over 60% from both parties, it’s clearly overwhelming,” Tillman said referring to the poll.

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Trahan isn’t the only one on USTL’s list. The group has rolled out billboards against lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, in Florida, Idaho, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Arizona.

Sadaf Tokhi can be reached at [email protected].