Presently, the disciplinary process begins when a resolution to expel or censure a Member is referred to the appropriate committee. In the House, this is the Committee on Ethics (House Ethics Committee); in the Senate, this is the Select Committee on Ethics (Senate Ethics Committee).
The committee may then ask other Representatives or Senators to come forward with complaints about the Member under consideration or may initiate an investigation into the Member's actions. Sometimes Members may refer a resolution calling for an investigation into a particular Member or matter that may lead to the recommendation of expulsion or censure.
Rule XI (Procedures of committees and unfinished business) of the Rules of the House of Representatives states that the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct can investigate allegations that a Member violated "any law, rule, regulation, or other standard of conduct applicable to the conduct of such Member ... in the performance of his duties or the discharge of his responsibilities". The Senate Select Committee on Ethics has the equivalent jurisdiction. The committee may then report back to their whole chamber as to its findings and recommendations for further actions.
When an investigation is launched by either committee, an investigatory subcommittee will be formed. Once the investigatory subcommittee has collected evidence, talked to witnesses, and held an adjudicatoryhearing, it will vote on whether the Member is found to have committed the specific actions and then will vote on recommendations. If expulsion is the recommendation then the subcommittee's report will be referred to the full House of Representatives or Senate where Members may vote to accept, reject, or alter the report's recommendation. Voting to expel requires the concurrence of two-thirds of the members. This is set out in Article 1, Section 5, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution.
In the entire history of the United States Congress, 21 Members have been expelled: 15 from the Senate and six from the House of Representatives. Of these 21 members, 17 were expelled for supporting the Confederate States in 1861 and 1862. One member's expulsion, Senator William K. Sebastian of Arkansas, was posthumously reversed. The U.S. Constitution requires that vacancies in the House of Representatives be filled with a special election. Censure has been a much more common form of disciplinary action in Congress over the years, as it requires a much lower threshold of votes to impose.
There have been numerous other attempts to expel members of Congress. In many of those instances members under serious threat of expulsion resigned, including:
1862: Senator James F. Simmons, Republican of Rhode Island. On July 14, 1862, the Judiciary Committee reported that the charges of corruption against Simmons were "essentially correct"; The Senate adjourned three days later, and Simmons resigned on August 15 before the Senate could take action.
1906: Senator Joseph R. Burton, Republican of Kansas. Resigned after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction on charges of receiving compensation for intervening with a federal agency.
1922: Senator Truman H. Newberry, Republican of Michigan. On March 20, 1920, Newberry was convicted on charges of violating campaign finance laws by spending $3,750 to secure his Senate election. The Supreme Court overturned this decision on May 2, 1921, on the grounds that the Senate exceeded its powers in attempting to regulate primary elections. On January 12, 1922, the Senate voted 46–41 that Newberry was duly elected in 1918. However, after certain members resumed their efforts to unseat him, Newberry resigned on November 18, 1922, two days before the start of the third session of the 67th Congress.
1981: Representative Raymond F. Lederer, Democrat of Pennsylvania, was the only member of the Abscam scandal to win re-election. However he resigned due to "personal legal problems" a week after the House Ethics Committee recommended his expulsion for accepting a $50,000 bribe.[9]
1982: Senator Harrison A. Williams, Democrat of New Jersey, resigned after the Committee on Ethics recommended his expulsion due to his "ethically repugnant" actions in the Abscam scandal.
1995: Senator Bob Packwood, Republican of Oregon, resigned after the Committee of Ethics recommended his expulsion due to his gross sexual misconduct and his attempts to enrich himself through his official position.
There were other instances in which investigations were brought, but the defendants were exonerated, expulsion was rejected, insufficient evidence was found, or the member's term expired:
1862: The expulsion of Senator Lazarus W. Powell, Democrat of Kentucky, was sought for support for Confederate rebellion. Unlike the three Senators expelled for that reason the same year and the eleven Senators the previous year, Powell was not expelled.
1873: Senator James W. Patterson, Republican of New Hampshire, was accused of corruption, and a Senate select committee recommended expulsion on February 27. On March 1, a Republican caucus decided that there was insufficient time remaining in the session to deliberate the matter. Patterson's term expired March 3, and no further action was taken.
1893: Senator William N. Roach, Democrat of North Dakota, was accused of embezzlement that had allegedly occurred 13 years earlier. After extensive deliberation, the Senate took no action, assuming that it lacked jurisdiction over members' behavior before their election to the Senate.
1905: Senator John H. Mitchell, Republican of Oregon, was indicted on corruption charges on January 1, 1905, and was convicted on July 5 of that year, during a Senate recess. He died on December 8, while his case was still on appeal and before the Senate, which had convened on December 4, could take any action against him.
1907: Senator Reed Smoot, Republican of Utah, a leader in the LDS Church, was the subject of a two-year investigation by the Committee on Privileges and Elections, which found that Smoot was not due his seat in the Senate because he was "a leader in a religion that advocated polygamy which is contrary to the U.S. Constitution".[10] Smoot's expulsion failed by a vote of 27–43 after the Senate decided that he fit the constitutional requirements to be a Senator.
1919: Senator Robert M. La Follette Sr., Republican of Wisconsin, was accused of disloyalty after a 1917 speech he gave in opposition to U.S. entry into World War I. The Committee on Privileges and Elections recommended that La Follette not be expelled and the Senate concurred in a 50–21 vote.
1924: Senator Burton K. Wheeler, Democrat of Montana, was indicted for conflict of interest, specifically acting as a lawyer, while a senator, in cases in which the U.S. was a party. A Senate committee, however, found that his dealings related to litigation before state courts and that he received no compensation for any service before federal departments. The Senate exonerated him by a vote of 56–5.[11]
1934: The Committee on Privileges and Elections, jointly considering the case of Senators John H. Overton and Huey P. Long, both Democrats of Louisiana, determined that the evidence to support charges of election fraud were insufficient to warrant further consideration.
2023: Representative Jamaal Bowman, Democrat of New York, had a motion of expulsion brought against him by 13 House Republicans after pulling a fire alarm during a vote over an impending government shutdown. Bowman was accused of pulling the alarm, which was in a building other than the Capitol, to delay the bill he supported. Bowman stated that he thought that pulling the alarm would open a locked door and was not an attempt to delay the bill.[12]
2023: Representative George Santos, Republican of New York, faced a motion of expulsion on November 1 following several criminal fraud charges. The motion failed by a vote of 179–213, with 19 voting present, insufficient to meet the two-thirds threshold. Support was mostly from Democrats, joined by 24 Republicans, while 31 Democrats joined Republicans in opposing.[13] Following the report of an ethics probe, a second motion resulted in his expulsion on December 1, with a vote of 311–114.[14][15]
^Brockell, Gillian (January 5, 2021). "The senators who were expelled after refusing to accept Lincoln's election". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
^Brown, Cynthia; Garvey, Todd (January 11, 2018). Expulsion of Members of Congress: Legal Authority and Historical Practice(PDF). Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
^"U.S. Senate: Expulsion Case of William Blount of Tennessee (1797)". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
^"U.S. Senate: Expulsion Case of Jesse D. Bright of Indiana (1862)". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
^ abcdef"List of Individuals Expelled, Censured, or Reprimanded in the U.S. House of Representatives | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
^"4 Briefing on Expulsion and Censure". U.S. Senate. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
^"Burton Wheeler, former Senator for Montana". GovTrack.us. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
^"Jamaal Bowman: Republicans seek Democrat's expulsion for pulling fire alarm". BBC. October 2, 2023.
^"Rep. George Santos survives effort to expel him from the House. But he still faces an ethics report". AP News.
^Pengelly, Martin (2023-12-01). "Republican George Santos expelled from Congress in bipartisan vote". US Politics. The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. ISSN 1756-3224. OCLC 60623878. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
^"Roll Call 691 - Bill Number: H. Res. 878". Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
Further readingedit
Maskell, Jack. , Congressional Research Service, April 16, 2002.
Maskell, Jack. "Recall of Legislators and the Removal of Members of Congress from Office", Congressional Research Service, March 20, 2003.
"Senate History on Expulsion and Censure."
Sorokin, Ellen. "In Congress' 213-year history, expulsion 'exceedingly rare'", The Washington Times, July 25, 2002.
Expulsion of Members of Congress: Legal Authority and Historical Practice (Report). Congressional Research Service. November 7, 2023. R45078.
January 01, 1970
expulsion, from, united, states, congress, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Expulsion from the United States Congress news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2020 Learn how and when to remove this message Expulsion is the most serious form of disciplinary action that can be taken against a Member of Congress 1 The United States Constitution Article I Section 5 Clause 2 provides that Each House of Congress may determine the Rules of its proceedings punish its members for disorderly behavior and with the concurrence of two thirds expel a member The process for expulsion from the House of Representatives differs somewhat from the process for expulsion from the Senate 2 Censure a less severe form of disciplinary action is an official sanction of a member It does not remove a member from office Contents 1 Process leading to expulsion 2 Expulsions from Congress 3 Other initiations of actions to expel 4 See also 5 References 6 Further readingProcess leading to expulsion editPresently the disciplinary process begins when a resolution to expel or censure a Member is referred to the appropriate committee In the House this is the Committee on Ethics House Ethics Committee in the Senate this is the Select Committee on Ethics Senate Ethics Committee The committee may then ask other Representatives or Senators to come forward with complaints about the Member under consideration or may initiate an investigation into the Member s actions Sometimes Members may refer a resolution calling for an investigation into a particular Member or matter that may lead to the recommendation of expulsion or censure Rule XI Procedures of committees and unfinished business of the Rules of the House of Representatives states that the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct can investigate allegations that a Member violated any law rule regulation or other standard of conduct applicable to the conduct of such Member in the performance of his duties or the discharge of his responsibilities The Senate Select Committee on Ethics has the equivalent jurisdiction The committee may then report back to their whole chamber as to its findings and recommendations for further actions When an investigation is launched by either committee an investigatory subcommittee will be formed Once the investigatory subcommittee has collected evidence talked to witnesses and held an adjudicatory hearing it will vote on whether the Member is found to have committed the specific actions and then will vote on recommendations If expulsion is the recommendation then the subcommittee s report will be referred to the full House of Representatives or Senate where Members may vote to accept reject or alter the report s recommendation Voting to expel requires the concurrence of two thirds of the members This is set out in Article 1 Section 5 Clause 2 of the United States Constitution Expulsions from Congress editSee also List of United States representatives expelled censured or reprimanded and List of United States senators expelled or censured In the entire history of the United States Congress 21 Members have been expelled 15 from the Senate and six from the House of Representatives Of these 21 members 17 were expelled for supporting the Confederate States in 1861 and 1862 One member s expulsion Senator William K Sebastian of Arkansas was posthumously reversed The U S Constitution requires that vacancies in the House of Representatives be filled with a special election Censure has been a much more common form of disciplinary action in Congress over the years as it requires a much lower threshold of votes to impose Table key N V No recorded vote Posthumously reversed Expelled members of Congress Portrait Name Year Chamber Party State Reason Vote Ref nbsp William Blount 1797 Senate Democratic Republican nbsp Tennessee Treason and conspiracy to incite a rebellion of Creek and Cherokee to aid the British in conquering the Spanish territory of West Florida 25 1 3 nbsp James M Mason 1861 Senate Democratic nbsp Virginia Supporting the Confederate rebellion 32 10 4 nbsp Robert M T Hunter 1861 Senate Democratic nbsp Virginia Supporting the Confederate rebellion 32 10 4 nbsp Thomas L Clingman 1861 Senate Democratic nbsp North Carolina Supporting the Confederate rebellion 32 10 4 nbsp Thomas Bragg 1861 Senate Democratic nbsp North Carolina Supporting the Confederate rebellion 32 10 4 nbsp James Chesnut Jr 1861 Senate Democratic nbsp South Carolina Supporting the Confederate rebellion 32 10 4 nbsp Alfred O P Nicholson 1861 Senate Democratic nbsp Tennessee Supporting the Confederate rebellion 32 10 4 nbsp William K Sebastian 1861 Senate Democratic nbsp Arkansas Supporting the Confederate rebellion 32 10 4 nbsp Charles B Mitchel 1861 Senate Democratic nbsp Arkansas Supporting the Confederate rebellion 32 10 4 nbsp John Hemphill 1861 Senate Democratic nbsp Texas Supporting the Confederate rebellion 32 10 4 nbsp Louis Wigfall 1861 Senate Democratic nbsp Texas Supporting the Confederate rebellion 32 10 4 nbsp John C Breckinridge 1861 Senate Democratic nbsp Kentucky Supporting the Confederate rebellion 36 0 5 nbsp Trusten Polk 1862 Senate Democratic nbsp Missouri Supporting the Confederate rebellion 36 0 6 nbsp Waldo P Johnson 1862 Senate Democratic nbsp Missouri Supporting the Confederate rebellion 35 0 6 nbsp Jesse D Bright 1862 Senate Democratic nbsp Indiana Supporting the Confederate rebellion 32 14 7 nbsp John Bullock Clark 1862 House Democratic nbsp Missouri Supporting the Confederate rebellion 94 45 8 nbsp John William Reid 1862 House Democratic nbsp Missouri Supporting the Confederate rebellion N V 8 nbsp Henry Cornelius Burnett 1862 House Democratic nbsp Kentucky Supporting the Confederate rebellion N V 8 nbsp Michael Myers 1980 House Democratic nbsp Pennsylvania Conviction for bribery in connection with the Abscam scandal 376 30 8 nbsp James Traficant 2002 House Democratic nbsp Ohio Conviction for bribery racketeering and tax evasion 420 1 8 nbsp George Santos 2023 House Republican nbsp New York Findings of fraud and misuse of campaign funds by the House Ethics Committee 311 114 8 Other initiations of actions to expel editThere have been numerous other attempts to expel members of Congress In many of those instances members under serious threat of expulsion resigned including 1862 Senator James F Simmons Republican of Rhode Island On July 14 1862 the Judiciary Committee reported that the charges of corruption against Simmons were essentially correct The Senate adjourned three days later and Simmons resigned on August 15 before the Senate could take action 1906 Senator Joseph R Burton Republican of Kansas Resigned after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction on charges of receiving compensation for intervening with a federal agency 1922 Senator Truman H Newberry Republican of Michigan On March 20 1920 Newberry was convicted on charges of violating campaign finance laws by spending 3 750 to secure his Senate election The Supreme Court overturned this decision on May 2 1921 on the grounds that the Senate exceeded its powers in attempting to regulate primary elections On January 12 1922 the Senate voted 46 41 that Newberry was duly elected in 1918 However after certain members resumed their efforts to unseat him Newberry resigned on November 18 1922 two days before the start of the third session of the 67th Congress 1981 Representative Raymond F Lederer Democrat of Pennsylvania was the only member of the Abscam scandal to win re election However he resigned due to personal legal problems a week after the House Ethics Committee recommended his expulsion for accepting a 50 000 bribe 9 1982 Senator Harrison A Williams Democrat of New Jersey resigned after the Committee on Ethics recommended his expulsion due to his ethically repugnant actions in the Abscam scandal 1995 Senator Bob Packwood Republican of Oregon resigned after the Committee of Ethics recommended his expulsion due to his gross sexual misconduct and his attempts to enrich himself through his official position 2006 Representative Bob Ney Republican of Ohio resigned after being convicted in connection with the Jack Abramoff scandals There were other instances in which investigations were brought but the defendants were exonerated expulsion was rejected insufficient evidence was found or the member s term expired 1808 Senator John Smith Democratic Republican of Ohio was implicated in the Aaron Burr led conspiracy to invade Mexico and create a new country in the west Senator John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts led the attempt to expel Smith from the Senate while Francis Scott Key defended Smith before the Senate Expulsion failed 19 to 10 less than the two thirds majority needed At request of the Ohio Legislature Smith resigned two weeks after the vote 1856 Congressman Preston Brooks Democrat of South Carolina beat Senator Charles Sumner with a cane For this incident he avoided expulsion but resigned he was then re elected by the people of South Carolina who considered him a hero 1862 The expulsion of Senator Lazarus W Powell Democrat of Kentucky was sought for support for Confederate rebellion Unlike the three Senators expelled for that reason the same year and the eleven Senators the previous year Powell was not expelled 1873 Senator James W Patterson Republican of New Hampshire was accused of corruption and a Senate select committee recommended expulsion on February 27 On March 1 a Republican caucus decided that there was insufficient time remaining in the session to deliberate the matter Patterson s term expired March 3 and no further action was taken 1893 Senator William N Roach Democrat of North Dakota was accused of embezzlement that had allegedly occurred 13 years earlier After extensive deliberation the Senate took no action assuming that it lacked jurisdiction over members behavior before their election to the Senate 1905 Senator John H Mitchell Republican of Oregon was indicted on corruption charges on January 1 1905 and was convicted on July 5 of that year during a Senate recess He died on December 8 while his case was still on appeal and before the Senate which had convened on December 4 could take any action against him 1907 Senator Reed Smoot Republican of Utah a leader in the LDS Church was the subject of a two year investigation by the Committee on Privileges and Elections which found that Smoot was not due his seat in the Senate because he was a leader in a religion that advocated polygamy which is contrary to the U S Constitution 10 Smoot s expulsion failed by a vote of 27 43 after the Senate decided that he fit the constitutional requirements to be a Senator 1919 Senator Robert M La Follette Sr Republican of Wisconsin was accused of disloyalty after a 1917 speech he gave in opposition to U S entry into World War I The Committee on Privileges and Elections recommended that La Follette not be expelled and the Senate concurred in a 50 21 vote 1924 Senator Burton K Wheeler Democrat of Montana was indicted for conflict of interest specifically acting as a lawyer while a senator in cases in which the U S was a party A Senate committee however found that his dealings related to litigation before state courts and that he received no compensation for any service before federal departments The Senate exonerated him by a vote of 56 5 11 1934 The Committee on Privileges and Elections jointly considering the case of Senators John H Overton and Huey P Long both Democrats of Louisiana determined that the evidence to support charges of election fraud were insufficient to warrant further consideration 2023 Representative Jamaal Bowman Democrat of New York had a motion of expulsion brought against him by 13 House Republicans after pulling a fire alarm during a vote over an impending government shutdown Bowman was accused of pulling the alarm which was in a building other than the Capitol to delay the bill he supported Bowman stated that he thought that pulling the alarm would open a locked door and was not an attempt to delay the bill 12 2023 Representative George Santos Republican of New York faced a motion of expulsion on November 1 following several criminal fraud charges The motion failed by a vote of 179 213 with 19 voting present insufficient to meet the two thirds threshold Support was mostly from Democrats joined by 24 Republicans while 31 Democrats joined Republicans in opposing 13 Following the report of an ethics probe a second motion resulted in his expulsion on December 1 with a vote of 311 114 14 15 See also editFederal impeachment in the United States List of federal political scandals in the United States List of United States senators expelled or censured List of United States representatives expelled censured or reprimanded Resignation from the United States SenateReferences edit Brockell Gillian January 5 2021 The senators who were expelled after refusing to accept Lincoln s election The Washington Post Retrieved January 5 2021 Brown Cynthia Garvey Todd January 11 2018 Expulsion of Members of Congress Legal Authority and Historical Practice PDF Washington D C Congressional Research Service Retrieved 27 January 2018 U S Senate Expulsion Case of William Blount of Tennessee 1797 www senate gov Retrieved 2023 12 26 a b c d e f g h i j U S Senate Civil War Expulsion Cases 1861 www senate gov Retrieved 2023 12 26 U S Senate Expulsion Case of John C Breckinridge of Kentucky 1861 www senate gov Retrieved 2023 12 26 a b U S Senate Civil War Expulsion Cases 1862 www senate gov Retrieved 2023 12 26 U S Senate Expulsion Case of Jesse D Bright of Indiana 1862 www senate gov Retrieved 2023 12 26 a b c d e f List of Individuals Expelled Censured or Reprimanded in the U S House of Representatives US House of Representatives History Art amp Archives history house gov Retrieved 2023 12 26 Exit Mr Lederer The New York Times May 3 1981 4 Briefing on Expulsion and Censure U S Senate 30 May 2014 Retrieved 28 September 2014 Burton Wheeler former Senator for Montana GovTrack us Retrieved 2018 07 10 Jamaal Bowman Republicans seek Democrat s expulsion for pulling fire alarm BBC October 2 2023 Rep George Santos survives effort to expel him from the House But he still faces an ethics report AP News Pengelly Martin 2023 12 01 Republican George Santos expelled from Congress in bipartisan vote US Politics The Guardian Guardian Media Group ISSN 1756 3224 OCLC 60623878 Retrieved 2023 12 01 Roll Call 691 Bill Number H Res 878 Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives 1 December 2023 Retrieved 7 December 2023 Further reading editMaskell Jack Expulsion Censure Reprimand and Fine Legislative Discipline in the House of Representatives Congressional Research Service April 16 2002 Maskell Jack Recall of Legislators and the Removal of Members of Congress from Office Congressional Research Service March 20 2003 Senate History on Expulsion and Censure Sorokin Ellen In Congress 213 year history expulsion exceedingly rare The Washington Times July 25 2002 Expulsion of Members of Congress Legal Authority and Historical Practice Report Congressional Research Service November 7 2023 R45078 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Expulsion from the United States Congress amp oldid 1213848458, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
