Last week, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution held a hearing titled “Keeping Congress Accountable: Term Limits In the United States.” Chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the primary sponsor of the Senate’s constitutional amendment to impose term limits on Congress, the hearing included testimony from former-Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) as well as from a panel of two professors -- Lynda W. Powell and Dr. John David Rausch, Jr. -- alongside Nick Tomboulides, the Executive Director of the nonprofit group U.S. Term Limits.

Whenever Republicans run for office, they say they’re going to go to work to reduce spending and the size and scope of government. But when they arrive in Washington, to paraphrase Stephen Slivinski, many Republicans stop viewing Washington as a cesspool and treat it more like a hot tub. They get comfortable with Congress because they want to rise in the ranks of the conference, get a coveted committee like Appropriations, and work their way into committee chairmanship or a leadership position.

The House and Senate are in session this week.

Coming off a week-long recess and without any significant legislative victories this year, the pressure is on the Senate this week to pass the FY 2018 budget resolution, S.Con.Res. 25, which provides reconciliation instructions for fundamental tax reform. The House passed its own version of the FY 2018 budget, H.Con.Res. 71, on October 5 by a vote of 219 to 206.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has indicated that he will bring an ObamaCare repeal bill to the floor early next week for a motion to proceed. For those not familiar with a motion to proceed, it's a procedural vote that allows the Senate to consider a piece of legislation on the floor.

Most of the criticisms of the House and Senate health insurance reform bills have centered around the proposed repeal of Medicaid expansion. The House version of H.R. 1628 proposed repeal on January 1, 2020. To placate moderates, the Senate version would delay repeal Medicaid expansion on January 1, 2024.

Earlier today, a quartet of Republican senators — Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) — introduced the Patient Freedom Act, S. 191. The bill, they say, is a comprehensive replacement for ObamaCare after it's repealed, the process for which is currently underway in Congress.