List of United States Representatives expelled, censured, or reprimanded

Last updated April 19, 2019

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, all of whom were members of the Democratic Party. Three of those five were expelled in 1861 for joining the Confederate States of America.^[2]

The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government. Its first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress ; the executive, consisting of the President ; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. Articles Four, Five and Six embody concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments, the states in relationship to the federal government, and the shared process of constitutional amendment. Article Seven establishes the procedure subsequently used by the thirteen States to ratify it. It is regarded as the oldest written and codified national constitution in force.

The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they compose the legislature of the United States.

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party.

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	Clark, John B. John B. Clark	Democratic	Missouri	Disloyalty to the Union; taking up arms against the United States.
1861	Reid, John W. John W. Reid	Democratic	Missouri	Disloyalty to the Union; taking up arms against the United States.
1861	Burnett, Henry C. Henry C. Burnett	Democratic	Kentucky	Disloyalty to the Union; taking up arms against the United States.
1980	Myers, Michael J. Michael J. Myers	Democratic	Pennsylvania	Convicted of bribery in the Abscam scandal.
2002	Traficant, James James Traficant	Democratic	Ohio	Convicted on ten counts that included bribery, obstruction of justice, and racketeering.^[3]

Censured Representatives

Year	Representative	Party	State	Details
1832	Stanbery, William William Stanbery	National Republican	Ohio	Insulting the Speaker of the House
1842	Giddings, Joshua Joshua Giddings	Whig Party	Ohio	Introduced anti-slavery resolution deemed to be "incendiary".^{[ by whom? ]} Violated the gag rule prohibiting discussion of slavery.
1856	Keitt, Laurence M. Laurence M. Keitt	Democratic	South Carolina	Assisted in the caning of Charles Sumner
1864	Harris, Benjamin G. Benjamin G. Harris	Democratic	Maryland	Made statements supporting the Confederacy.
1864	Long, Alexander Alexander Long	Democratic	Ohio	Supported recognition of the Confederacy
1866	Chanler, John W. John W. Chanler	Democratic	New York	Insulted the House with resolution containing unparliamentary language
1866	Rousseau, Lovell Lovell Rousseau	Unconditional Unionist	Kentucky	Assault of Rep. Josiah Grinnell
1867	Hunter, John W. John W. Hunter	Democratic	New York	Unparliamentary language
1868	Wood, Fernando Fernando Wood	Democratic	New York	Unparliamentary language
1869	Holbrook, Edward D. Edward D. Holbrook	Democratic	Idaho Territory	Unparliamentary language
1870	Whittemore, Benjamin Benjamin Whittemore	Republican	South Carolina	Selling military academy appointments
1870	Deweese, John T. John T. Deweese	Republican	North Carolina	Selling military academy appointments
1870	Butler, Roderick Roderick Butler	Republican	Tennessee	Selling military academy appointments
1873	Ames, Oakes Oakes Ames	Republican	Massachusetts	Prior involvement in Crédit Mobilier of America scandal
1873	Brooks, James James Brooks	Democratic	New York	Prior involvement in Crédit Mobilier of America scandal
1875	Brown, John Y. John Y. Brown	Democratic	Kentucky	Unparliamentary language
1890	Bynum, William D. William D. Bynum	Democratic	Indiana	Unparliamentary language
1921	Blanton, Thomas L. Thomas L. Blanton	Democratic	Texas	Unparliamentary language
1979	Diggs, Charles Charles Diggs	Democratic	Michigan	Payroll fraud, mail fraud
1980	Wilson, Charles H. Charles H. Wilson	Democratic	California	Improper use of campaign funds
1983	Crane, Daniel B. Daniel B. Crane	Republican	Illinois	Sexual misconduct with House page
1983	Studds, Gerry Gerry Studds	Democratic	Massachusetts	Sexual misconduct with House page
2010	Rangel, Charles B. 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	Sikes, Robert L. F. Robert L. F. Sikes	Democratic	Florida	Use of office for personal gain
1978	Wilson, Charles H. Charles H. Wilson	Democratic	California	Making false statements to House committee
1978	McFall, John J. John J. McFall	Democratic	California	Failure to report campaign contributions
1978	Roybal, Edward Edward Roybal	Democratic	California	Making false statements to House committee, failure to report campaign contributions
1984	Hansen, George V. George V. Hansen	Republican	Idaho	False statements on financial disclosure form
1987	Murphy, Austin J. Austin J. Murphy	Democratic	Pennsylvania	Allowed another person to cast his vote; misusing House funds
1990	Frank, Barney Barney Frank	Democratic	Massachusetts	Use of office to fix parking tickets on friend's behalf
1995	Dornan, Bob 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	Gingrich, Newt Newt Gingrich	Republican	Georgia	Use of tax-exempt organization for political purposes; provided false information to House Ethics Committee
2009	Wilson, Joe Joe Wilson	Republican	South Carolina	Outburst towards President Barack Obama during a speech to a joint session of Congress ^[5]^[6]
2012	Richardson, Laura Laura Richardson	Democratic	California	Use of Congressional office staff in 2010 House election campaign

Excluded Representatives-elect

Year	Representative-elect	Party	State	Details
1899	Brigham Henry Roberts	Democratic	Utah	Denied seat for his practice of polygamy
1967	Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.	Democratic	New York	Mismanaging his committee's budget in previous Congress, excessive absenteeism, misuse of public funds^[7]

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References

↑ U.S. Constitution Online, Article 1
1 2 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"

List of federal political scandals in the United States List of federal political sex scandals in the United States

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[1] U.S. Constitution Online, Article 1

[CRS-2] 1 2 CRS Report For Congress Archived 2010-07-07 at the Wayback Machine .

[cnn-3] "Archives". CNN.com. April 11, 2002. Archived from the original on April 11, 2008. Retrieved 2007-11-12.

[4] Painin, Eric (January 26, 1995). "REP. DORNAN REBUKED FOR FLOOR TIRADE". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 23, 2018.

[5] "CNN, Politics, retrieved 14 September 2009". Cnn.com. 2009-09-10. Retrieved 2009-09-16.

[6] "Carter: Obama a target for racism". English.aljazeera.net. 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2010-10-07.

[7] "1967 Year In Review, UPI.com"