>>>>> My old congressman argued that term limits were a small part of the problem; the bigger part was the entrenched bureaucrats. <<<<<<
I don’t believe this or agree with it.
The last thing a government bureaucrat wants is to be on the bad side of an elected official who’s term limited and has no particular interest in the bureaucrat’s career or future.
I wondered about that too, but realized that even though you may be a congressman you still have to deal with the bureaucracy. You have layer after layer; a couple of slowdowns can make your work, at best, harder.
In addition, can they be friends with other members of congress, or even a party? There is no doubt of that in my mind.