Expulsion and censure

Expulsion is the most serious form of disciplinary action that can be taken against a Member of Congress. Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution states 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." Censure is a less severe form of disciplinary action that does not remove a Senator from office but is a serious black mark on a Senator's standing and career. A vote for censure requires a simple majority to pass.

Process leading to expulsion or censure
Presently, the disciplinary process begins when a resolution to expel or censure a Member is referred to the House Ethics Committee or the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. The Committee may then ask other Members 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.

The Rules of the House of Representatives (House Rule XI) state 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 same jurisdictional authority. Either Committee may then report back to the appropriate House of Congress its findings and recommendations for further actions.

When an investigation is launched by the 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 accept the recommendation of expulsion requires a 2/3 vote (290 representatives or 67 Senators) to succeed.

Expulsion
In the history of the United States Congress there have been 19 Members expelled, 15 from the Senate and 4 from the House of Representatives. The majority of those expelled were removed from office for their support of the Confederacy in the immediate aftermath of secession. In 1861 eleven Southern Senators were expelled including the 1860 Democratic Presidential nominee John Breckinridge. In 1862 three more Senators were expelled for supporting the Confederate rebellion. Three Members of the House were expelled in 1861 for supporting the Confederacy as well.

There have only been three other expulsions from Congress in its entire history. In 1797 Sen. William Blount (TN) was expelled for "Anti-Spanish conspiracy" and treason. In 1980 Rep. Michael Myers (PA) was expelled for accepting money in return for using his official position to influence immigrations matters. In 2002 Rep. Jim Traficant (OH) was expelled after he was convicted on numerous counts of bribery, racketeering, and tax evasion.

There have been numerous other attempts at expelling Members of Congress, in a few instances those Members, under serious threat of expulsion, resigned. Some of these cases include:


 * 1862: Sen. James Simmons (RI) resigned before the Senate could take action after the Judiciary Committee ruled that charges of corruption against him were "essentially correct".
 * 1906: Sen. Joseph Burton (KS) resigned after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction on bribery charges.
 * 1922: Sen. Truman Newberry (MI) was convicted of violating campaign finance laws. The Supreme Court overturned his conviction on the grounds that the Senate had gone too far in the regulation of campaign finance and the Senate voted to seat him. Newberrry, however, resigned instead of face further pressure from opponents who aimed to expel him.
 * 1982: Sen. Harrison Williams, Jr. (NJ) resigned after the Committee on Ethics recommended his expulsion due to his "ethically repugnant" actions in the Abscam scandal.
 * 1995: Sen. Robert Packwood (OR) 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: Rep. Bob Ney (OH) resigned his seat in Congress after being convicted in the Jack Abramoff bribery scandal.

There have also been instances where some Members sought to expel another from Congress only to have expulsion rejected. Some more notable cases include:


 * 1808: Sen. John Smith (OH) was implicated in the Aaron Burr-led conspiracy to invade Mexico and create a new country in the west. Sen. John Quincy Adams (MA) led the attempt to expel Smith from the Senate while Francis Scott Key defended Smith before the Senate. Smith's expulsion failed by one vote to reach the 2/3s threshold, however he resigned at the end of that year's session.
 * 1907: Sen. Reed Smoot (UT) was the subject of a two-year investigation by the Committee on Privileges and Elections regarding his religious affiliation -- Mormonism. The Committee found that Smoot was not due his seat in the Senate because he was "a leader in a religion that advocated polygamy and a union of church and state, contrary to the U.S. Constitution." Smoot's expulsion failed by a vote of 27-43 after the Senate decided that he was fit the constitutional requirements to be a Senator.
 * 1919: Sen. Robert LaFollette (WI) was accused of disloyalty after a speech he gave in opposition to the First World War. The Committee on Privileges and Elections recommended that LaFollette not be expelled and the Senate concurred.

Censure
Censure has been a much more common form of disciplinary action in Congress over the years. There have been 31 censured Members of Congress, 22 in the House and 9 in the Senate. The most recent instances of censure in the House was during the 1983 Congressional Page Scandal when Rep. Gerry Studds (MA) and Rep. Daniel Crane (IL) were censured for sexual misconduct with House Pages. In the Senate, Sen. Daniel Durenberger (MI) was censured in 1990 for a variety of improper activities regarding a condominium and his use of campaign funds.

Notable cases of censure include Sen. Joseph McCarthy's (WI) censure in 1954, Sen. Thomas Dodd's (CT) censure for corrupt activities in 1967, and Hiram Bingaman's (CT) censure for employing an employee of Manufacturer's Association of Connecticut as his assistant.

Resources

 * Maskell, 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."

Articles

 * Sorokin, Ellen. "In Congress' 213-year history, expulsion 'exceedingly rare'," Washington Times, July 25, 2002.