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.
Representatives can also be censured by their state legislatures and state party.
Year | Representative | Party | State | Reason |
---|---|---|---|---|
1861 | John B. Clark | Democratic | Missouri | Supporting Confederate rebellion. |
1861 | John W. Reid | Democratic | Missouri | |
1861 | Henry C. Burnett | Democratic | Kentucky | |
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] |
Year | Representative | Party | State | Vote Count | Reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1832 | William Stanbery | National Republican | Ohio | 93–44[4] | Insulting the Speaker of the House. |
1842 | Joshua Giddings | Whig | Ohio | 125–69 | Introducing an anti-slavery resolution deemed to be incendiary, and violation of the gag rule prohibiting discussion of slavery. |
1856 | Laurence M. Keitt | Democratic | South Carolina | 106–96 | Assisting in the caning of Charles Sumner. |
1864 | Benjamin G. Harris | Democratic | Maryland | 98–20 | Making statements in support of the Confederate rebellion. |
Alexander Long | Democratic | Ohio | 80–70 | ||
1866 | John W. Chanler | Democratic | New York | 72–30 | Insulting the House with a resolution containing unparliamentary language. |
1866 | Lovell Rousseau | Unconditional Unionist | Kentucky | 89–30 | Assaulting Rep. Josiah Grinnell on the floor of the House. |
1867 | John W. Hunter | Democratic | New York | 77–33 | Using unparliamentary language. |
1868 | Fernando Wood | Democratic | New York | 114–39 | Using unparliamentary language. |
1869 | Edward D. Holbrook | Democratic | Idaho Territory | Using unparliamentary language. | |
1870 | Benjamin Whittemore | Republican | South Carolina | 187–0 |
Selling military academy appointments. |
John T. Deweese | Republican | North Carolina | 170–0 | ||
Roderick Butler | Republican | Tennessee | 158–0 | ||
1873 | Oakes Ames | Republican | Massachusetts | 182–36 | Involvement in the Crédit Mobilier of America scandal. |
James Brooks | Democratic | New York | 174–32 | ||
1875 | John Y. Brown | Democratic | Kentucky | 161–79 | Using unparliamentary language. |
1890 | William D. Bynum | Democratic | Indiana | 126–104 | Using unparliamentary language. |
1921 | Thomas L. Blanton | Democratic | Texas | 293–0 | Using unparliamentary language. |
1979 | Charles Diggs | Democratic | Michigan | 414–0 | Payroll fraud and mail fraud. |
1979 | Daniel Flood | Democratic | Pennsylvania | Bribery | |
1980 | Charles H. Wilson | Democratic | California | voice vote | Improper use of campaign funds. |
1983 | Daniel B. Crane | Republican | Illinois | 420–3 | Engaging in sexual conduct with a House page. |
Gerry Studds | Democratic | Massachusetts | 421–3 | ||
2010 | Charles B. Rangel | Democratic | New York | 333–79 | Improper solicitation of funds, making inaccurate financial disclosure statements, and failure to pay taxes. |
2021 | Paul Gosar | Republican | Arizona | 223–207 (with 1 "present" vote) | Posted an anime video on social media depicting himself committing violence against Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden.[5][6] |
2023 | Adam Schiff | Democratic | California | 213–209 (with 6 "present" votes) | Making allegations regarding Russian collusion in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the first impeachment of Donald Trump.[7][8] |
Year | Representative | Party | State | Vote Count | Reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1976 | Robert L. F. Sikes | Democratic | Florida | 381–3 (with 5 "present" votes) | Use of office for personal gain.[9] |
1978 | Charles H. Wilson | Democratic | California | 328–41 (with 29 "present" votes) | Role in South Korean influence-buying scandal.[10][11] |
1978 | John J. McFall | Democratic | California | Voice vote | Role in South Korean influence-buying scandal.[11][12] |
1978 | Edward Roybal | Democratic | California | Voice vote | Role in South Korean influence-buying scandal.[11] |
1984 | George V. Hansen | Republican | Idaho | 354–52 (with 6 "present" votes) | False statements on a financial disclosure form.[13] |
1987 | Austin J. Murphy | Democratic | Pennsylvania | 324–68 (with 20 "present" votes) | Allowed another person to cast his vote, and misused House funds.[14] |
1990 | Barney Frank | Democratic | Massachusetts | 408–18 | Used office to fix 33 parking tickets on behalf of a friend and wrote a misleading memorandum on behalf of the friend to shorten his probation for criminal convictions.[15] |
1995 | Bob Dornan | Republican | California | Voice vote | Criticism of President Bill Clinton as having "[given] aid and comfort to the enemy" during the Vietnam war in a floor speech. Dornan's remarks were stricken from the official record and he was banned from speaking on the House floor for 24 hours.[16] |
1997 | Newt Gingrich | Republican | Georgia | 395–28 | Use of a tax-exempt organization for political purposes, and providing false information to the House Ethics Committee.[17] |
2009 | Joe Wilson | Republican | South Carolina | 240–179 (with five "present" votes) | Making an outburst towards President Barack Obama during a speech to a joint session of Congress.[18][19] |
2012 | Laura Richardson | Democratic | California | Voice vote | Compelling her congressional office staff to work for her 2010 election campaign and perform personal errands; also fined $10,000.[20][21] |
2020 | David Schweikert | Republican | Arizona | Voice vote | Permitting his office to misuse taxpayer funds and various violations of campaign finance reporting requirements, federal law and House rules.[22] |
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 in a special election, though 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.[23] Powell was reelected to the seat for one more term. |