Punishment For Greene, Cawthorn, Gaetz and The Rest; Don’t Hold Your Breath
Scalawags, rogues and rapscallions are nothing new for Congress and those who stray are rarely met with more than a mild rap on the knuckles for their poor judgment.
The infamous Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., whose red-baiting lies led to blacklisting, ruined lives and suicides, refused to cooperate with a 1954 house investigation as he verbally abused them for investigating his heinous conduct and all he got was censure, a relative slap on the wrist.
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., posted a video parody of the anime television series “Attack on Titan” on his social media accounts, depicting himself as the character Eren Yeager, who is seen killing and attacking Titans with the superimposed faces of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, R-N.Y., and President Joe Biden. For his despicable behavior, Gosar, also was censured and was essentially told he had been a bad boy while 207 of his GOP colleagues denied even that.
So, for any who have any hope that the congress will expel any of those craven lawmakers who continually undermine our system of government as they repeat trump’s big lie about bogus voter fraud and ardently support those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and foment death and spread misinformation and lies about spurious cures for COVID-19, give it up.
That means that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., will face no penalties for her notoriously bad behavior, which border on sedition. And Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., most likely will face no serious repercussions for allegedly providing free housing and gifts to a staff member, failing to disclose the gifts and money he loaned to the staffer and allegedly trying to bring a loaded gun through an airport security checkpoint. Ditto for Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., under investigation for sex trafficking; and the same for Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., for spreading crazy QAnon conspiracy theories, and so many others, not to mention the mother of all violators, trump, who will never be publicly admonished by Congress.
The Constitution provides that either house of Congress may “expel” a member by a two-thirds majority, but it does not specify the reasons for expulsion. The same provision states that either house of Congress may punish its members for “disorderly behaviour.”
The House also can censure, reprimand, deny privileges of colleagues deemed to have strayed away from the rules. Any member who is censured in a majority House vote must stand at the “well” of the House chamber to receive a verbal rebuke and reading of the censure resolution by the Speaker of the House. Such cruelty should be not stand.
Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote but it doesn’t disqualify the ex-official from running for the same seat in a future election. Age, citizenship, and inhabitancy in the state are the only requirements to serve in Congress, past misconduct and congressional discipline are irrelevant.
A 2016 report by the Congressional Research Service, “Expulsion, Censure, Reprimand, and Fine: Legislative Discipline in the House of Representatives,” concluded that Congress is extremely reticent from expelling a member who has been fairly elected and would rather leave punishment in the hands of the voters. To be kicked out, you have to do something really, really bad.
The House of Representatives has expelled only five members since the nation was formed. There were only two in recent years, including Rep. Michael J. “Ozzie” Myers, D-Pa., who was expelled in 1980 after he was convicted of bribery and receiving a payment in return for promising to use official influence on immigration bills in the so-called ABSCAM “sting operation” run by the FBI. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., D-Ohio, was expelled in 2002, after his 10-count federal conviction for activities concerning the receipt of favors, gifts and money in return for performing official acts on behalf of the donors, and the receipt of salary kickbacks from staff.
Previously, John B. Clark and John W. Reid, both of Missouri, and Henry C. Burnett of Kentucky were all expelled in 1861 for disloyalty to the union and taking up arms against the U.S.
Eight days prior to his being expelled from the Congress, Clark, then a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army, fought at the July 5, 1861 Battle of Carthage. After his expulsion, Clark served as a senator from Missouri in the First Confederate Congress and a Representative in the Second Confederate Congress.
Following his expulsion, Burnett served in the Provisional Confederate Congress and the First and Second Confederate Senates. He was indicted for treason after the war, but never tried. He returned to the practice of law, and died of cholera in 1866 at the age of 40.
It’s a small number but it can be misleading as the congressional report said some members of the House were found to have engaged in serious misconduct but resigned before they were expelled. They include three members who resigned in 1861 rather than face expulsion for being disloyal to the Union. In more recent times, others who resigned before they were expelled included:
Rep. Raymond F. Lederer, D-Pa., and Rep. John W. Jenrette Jr., D-S.C., both resigned after they were caught up in the 1980 ABSCAM-bribery scandal.
Rep. Mel Reynolds, D-Ill., resigned in October 1995 after a jury convicted him of sexual assault charges related to sex with an underage campaign worker.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-N.Y., resigned after he was convicted of extortion as part of the Wedtech Scandal involving illegal federal loans. Garcia’s conviction was later reversed but it was too late for him as he had already left Congress.
Rep. Daniel J. Flood, D-Pa., was censured for bribery in 1980 and resigned.
Rep. Robert Ney, R-Ohio, resigned in 2007 after he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal.
Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, resigned in 2006 after he was indicted for campaign money laundering. He was later convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.
Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., resigned in 2005 and subsequently served eight years in prison for accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors.
Beyond the political ignominy of being formally and publicly admonished and deprecated by colleagues, there is no specific disqualification or express consequence provided in the House Rules after a member has been “censured.”
In the House there have been 23 “censures” of members and most were in the 19th century involving issues of decorum, such as using unparliamentary or insulting language on the floor of the House or acts of violence toward other members. Some were censured for supporting recognition of the Confederacy; selling military academy appointments; bribery and issues of fraud, including:
Rep. Charles C. Diggs, Jr., R-Mich., resigned in 1979 and later served 14 months of a three-year sentence for mail fraud.
Rep. Charles H. Wilson, D-Calif. was reprimanded in 1980 for financial misconduct stemming from the so-called Koreagate scandal. Wilson was defeated in the 1980 primary election for the Democratic Party nomination.
Rep. Gerry E. Studds, D-Mass., the first openly gay member of Congress, was censured in 1983 after he admitted to a consensual relationship with a 17-year-old page.
Diggs’s censure was the first in 58 years. Previously, on Oct.27, 1921, Rep. Thomas L. Blanton, D-Texas, was cited for using unparliamentary language. In 1929, Blanton inserted a letter into the Congressional Record that was deemed to use language that was “unspeakable, vile, foul, filthy, profane, blasphemous and obscene.”
The first House censure was against Rep. William Stanerry of Ohio on July 11, 1832, charging Stanberry with insulting the Speaker of the House, specifically accusing Speaker Andrew Stevenson for having his eye “too frequently turned from the chair you occupy toward the White House.”
On July 15, 1856, Rep. Lawrence M. Keitt of South Carolina was censured for assisting in assault on a member. Keitt allegedly helped fellow South Carolina Rep. Preston Brooks in his 1856 attack on Republican Sen. Charles Sumner. During the attack, Keitt brandished a pistol and cane to prevent other Senators from coming to Sumner’s aid. A second assault came in 1858, when Keitt attacked and attempted to choke Republican Rep. Galusha Grow during an argument on the floor of the U.S. House.
Reprimands involve a lesser level of disapproval of conduct. A total of 10 House Members have been “reprimanded” by the full House for a range of misconduct, including failure to disclose certain personal interests in official matters and using one’s office to further one’s personal gains; misrepresentations to investigating committees; failure to report campaign contributions; conversion of campaign contributions to personal use and false statements before the investigating committee; false statements on financial disclosure forms; ghost voting and maintaining persons on the official payroll who do not perform official duties commensurate with pay; the misuse of one’s political influence in administrative matters to help a personal associate; the failure to ensure that a Member-affiliated tax-exempt organization was not improperly involved in partisan politics, and for providing inaccurate, incomplete, and unreliable information to the investigating committee; and the misuse of official resources by compelling congressional staff to work on political campaigns.
Fines for disciplinary purposes in the House and Senate have been relatively infrequent. In 1969, the House fined Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, D-N.Y., $25,000 for allegations of corruption. The fine was paid automatically through withdrawals from Powell’s salary.
Rep. Charles Diggs, D-Mich., was fined $40,031.66 in 1998 as part of restitution for charges of mail fraud.
Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif., was reprimanded and fined $10,000 in 2012 for using congressional staff to work on her political campaigns.
Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, was fined $59,063 in 2014 for accepting improper gifts and misusing campaign funds.
The House also issues letters of reproval as a rebuke to a member’s conduct. Rep. E.G. “Bud” Shuster, R-Pa., received one such letter in 1998 stemming from his relationship with a former aide turned lobbyist and Shuster’s interventions with federal agencies on behalf of a business partner of his sons. Shuster was found to have “brought discredit to the House of Representatives.”