The presidential term limits came from a constitutional amendment and that is very unlikely to pass now for congress as with the phony Graham-nesty amendment.
But on the other hand congress sets it's own rules and decides who they will seat outside of the courts power. Each house could vote to set their rules for term limits, one idea is if they are elected a 3rd term they lose all leadership positions and those on committees such that a new-bee has more power than them. I am not saying they would do it but I am saying Republicans are not talking about real reforms. We can already see the limits of the Tea party movement.
I agree with your thoughts. I hadn’t given consideration to the loss of appointments after the second term. That’s an interesting new tool to me.