List of United States representatives expelled, censured, or reprimanded
The United States Constitution (Article 1, Section 5)[1] gives the House of Representatives the power to expel any member by a two-thirds vote. Expulsion of a Representative is rare: only five members of the House have been expelled in its history. Three of those five were expelled in 1861 for joining the Confederate States of America.[2]
However, the House has other, less severe measures with which to discipline members. Censure and reprimand are procedures in which the House may vote to express formal disapproval of a member's conduct. Only a simple majority vote is required. Members who are censured must stand in the well of the House chamber to receive a reading of the censure resolution.[2] A reprimand was once considered synonymous with censure, but in 1976 the House defined a reprimand as a less severe punishment. Members who are reprimanded are not required to stand in the well of the house and have the resolution read to them.
Expelled Representatives
Year | Representative | Party | State | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1861 | John B. Clark | Democratic | Missouri | Disloyalty to the Union; taking up arms against the United States. |
1861 | John W. Reid | Democratic | Missouri | Disloyalty to the Union; taking up arms against the United States. |
1861 | Henry C. Burnett | Democratic | Kentucky | Disloyalty to the Union; taking up arms against the United States. |
1980 | Michael J. Myers | Democratic | Pennsylvania | Convicted of bribery in the Abscam scandal. |
2002 | James Traficant | Democratic | Ohio | Convicted on ten counts including bribery, conspiracy to defraud the United States, corruption, obstruction of justice, tax evasion, and racketeering.[3] |
Censured Representatives
Year | Representative | Party | State | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1832 | William Stanbery | National Republican | Ohio | Insulting the Speaker of the House |
1842 | Joshua Giddings | Whig Party | Ohio | Introduced anti-slavery resolution deemed to be "incendiary". Violated the gag rule prohibiting discussion of slavery. |
1856 | Laurence M. Keitt | Democratic | South Carolina | Assisted in the caning of Charles Sumner |
1864 | Benjamin G. Harris | Democratic | Maryland | Made statements supporting the Confederacy. |
1864 | Alexander Long | Democratic | Ohio | Supported recognition of the Confederacy |
1866 | John W. Chanler | Democratic | New York | Insulted the House with resolution containing unparliamentary language |
1866 | Lovell Rousseau | Unconditional Unionist | Kentucky | Assault of Rep. Josiah Grinnell |
1867 | John W. Hunter | Democratic | New York | Unparliamentary language |
1868 | Fernando Wood | Democratic | New York | Unparliamentary language |
1869 | Edward D. Holbrook | Democratic | Idaho Territory | Unparliamentary language |
1870 | Benjamin Whittemore | Republican | South Carolina | Selling military academy appointments |
1870 | John T. Deweese | Republican | North Carolina | Selling military academy appointments |
1870 | Roderick Butler | Republican | Tennessee | Selling military academy appointments |
1873 | Oakes Ames | Republican | Massachusetts | Prior involvement in Crédit Mobilier of America scandal |
1873 | James Brooks | Democratic | New York | Prior involvement in Crédit Mobilier of America scandal |
1875 | John Y. Brown | Democratic | Kentucky | Unparliamentary language |
1890 | William D. Bynum | Democratic | Indiana | Unparliamentary language |
1921 | Thomas L. Blanton | Democratic | Texas | Unparliamentary language |
1979 | Charles Diggs | Democratic | Michigan | Payroll fraud, mail fraud |
1980 | Charles H. Wilson | Democratic | California | Improper use of campaign funds |
1983 | Daniel B. Crane | Republican | Illinois | Sexual misconduct with House page |
1983 | Gerry Studds | Democratic | Massachusetts | Sexual misconduct with House page |
2010 | Charles B. Rangel | Democratic | New York | Improper solicitation of funds, inaccurate financial disclosure statements, failure to pay taxes. |
Reprimanded Representatives
Year | Representative | Party | State | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1976 | Robert L. F. Sikes | Democratic | Florida | Use of office for personal gain |
1978 | Charles H. Wilson | Democratic | California | Making false statements to House committee |
1978 | John J. McFall | Democratic | California | Failure to report campaign contributions |
1978 | Edward Roybal | Democratic | California | Making false statements to House committee, failure to report campaign contributions |
1984 | George V. Hansen | Republican | Idaho | False statements on financial disclosure form |
1987 | Austin J. Murphy | Democratic | Pennsylvania | Allowed another person to cast his vote; misusing House funds |
1990 | Barney Frank | Democratic | Massachusetts | Use of office to fix parking tickets on friend's behalf |
1995 | Bob Dornan | Republican | California | Criticism of President Bill Clinton as having "gave aid and comfort to the enemy" during the Vietnam war in a floor speech[4] |
1997 | Newt Gingrich | Republican | Georgia | Use of tax-exempt organization for political purposes; provided false information to House Ethics Committee |
2009 | Joe Wilson | Republican | South Carolina | Outburst towards President Barack Obama during a speech to a joint session of Congress[5][6] |
2012 | Laura Richardson | Democratic | California | Use of congressional office staff in 2010 election campaign |
Excluded Representatives-elect
Year | Representative-elect | Party | State | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1899 | Brigham Henry Roberts | Democratic | Utah | Denied seat for his practice of polygamy |
1919 | Victor L. Berger | Socialist | Wisconsin | Denied seat on basis of opposition to World War I and conviction under the Espionage Act, the Supreme Court later overturned the conviction |
1920 | Victor L. Berger | Socialist | Wisconsin | After being denied a seat the first time, Wisconsin's 5th congressional district, reelected Berger a second time in a special election, to which Congress again refused to seat Berger, leaving the seat open until 1921 |
1967 | Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. | Democratic | New York | Mismanaging his committee's budget in previous Congress, excessive absenteeism, misuse of public funds[7] Powell was reelected to the seat for one more term. |
See also
- Censure in the United States
- List of federal political scandals in the United States
- List of federal political sex scandals in the United States
Federal politicians:
- List of American federal politicians convicted of crimes
- List of United States senators expelled or censured
State and local politics:
References
- U.S. Constitution Online, Article 1
- CRS Report For Congress Archived 2010-07-07 at the Wayback Machine
- "Archives". CNN.com. April 11, 2002. Archived from the original on April 11, 2008. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
- Painin, Eric (January 26, 1995). "REP. DORNAN REBUKED FOR FLOOR TIRADE". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
- "CNN, Politics, retrieved 14 September 2009". Cnn.com. 2009-09-10. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- "Carter: Obama a target for racism". English.aljazeera.net. 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
- "1967 Year In Review, UPI.com"