OK, we can agree to disagree here. We both want the same result. I’d like more accountability while in office so the bad ones get thrown out. An ethics committee with teeth run by people not in Congress would be a good start as would mandatory PE at the start of every term with a mental status exam as part of the physical.
It wouldn’t hurt for Congress critters to have to take a basic civics exam to get on the ballot run for office. There are obviously many that have no grasp of our system of Government.
Problem with your suggestion is “Who controls the controllers ?”. Meaning who picks, monitors, punishes for malfeasance the members of your “ethics committee “ ? It effectively would be a 4th branch of government. I’ve often thought maybe a draft of say 7 common folk to sit on such a panel for a year. Again who monitors their honesty? Bribes would be flying & mostly untraceable ! As far as exams go, exams for voting have been ruled in the past unconstitutional. It would be a simple exercise in creative lawyering to extend such a ruling to political candidates.
I like my suggestion not only because its mine but primarily it does the least harm to the current structure of the Constitution. It essentially does no more harm to the legislative branch then term limits did to the presidency. (Banning a return to the presidency after two terms in my mind is acceptable because of the radical difference in power between legislator & president.)
My suggestions as to forcing the cloddish political class to go home and banning them from lobbying is just a wish. Just breaking up their officer tenure is probably the best that can realistically happen.