Considering all of the shenanigans in Washington, D.C., you may be surprised to learn that the House of Representatives has voted just six times in the country’s 250-year history to expel one of its members. In the coming weeks, they could add four more removals.
If they proceed with all four – two Democrats and two Republicans – it won’t change the balance of power in the House. But it could signal a new, more assertive approach to self-policing at a time when Congress has largely been content to let the executive wield unchallenged power on issues like war and tariffs. Both of those have historically involved the legislative branch.
It would also be a break with past practice in that lawmakers have historically deferred to the voters. No member has been expelled for conduct that occurred before they were sworn in, nor for action in a previous Congress when they subsequently won reelection.
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Lawmakers could start as early as this week with a motion from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, to drum out Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, who faces multiple accusations of sexual assault and misconduct that have led him to suspend his once-promising run for governor of California. He had lost all 21 of his Democratic endorsements.
The Manhattan district attorney confirmed over the weekend that it was investigating the allegations, which Swalwell has called “absolutely false.”
The House has other options, including censure or reprimand, that are considerably more common. Nearly 30 members have been censured for behaviors ranging from insulting the speaker during floor debate to assaulting a fellow lawmaker with a cane.
Further down the punishment ladder, members have been fined, faced public admonishment by the House Ethics Committee and lost committee chairmanships, seniority or membership.
Why Have Members Been Expelled Before?
The Constitution empowers both chambers to punish a lawmaker for “disorderly Behaviour” and to expel them with a vote of two-thirds of those present. The House polices the House, the Senate the Senate, so unlike regular legislation, both chambers don’t need to act.
The two-thirds requirement, the array of other options and a tendency to defer to the voters are all factors in keeping expulsion relatively rare.
As is the case with the “high crimes and misdemeanors” that theoretically trigger a presidential impeachment, what sort of “Behaviour” qualifies as disorderly is up to the lawmakers.
So what actions have led the House to give a member the boot?
- The first three individuals expelled from the House – Missourians John B. Clark and John W. Reid, and Henry C. Burnett of Kentucky – took up arms against the United States during the Civil War. They were all expelled in 1861.
- The next expulsion came in 1980, when Rep. Michael J. Myers of Pennsylvania was removed after being convicted of bribery.
- Rep. James Traficant of Ohio was next, in 2002, as a consequence of being convicted of a series of financial improprieties.
- Finally, in 2023, the House voted to remove Rep. George Santos of New York, who faced an array of federal indictments, including for wire fraud and money laundering.
On the Senate side, just 15 members have been expelled since 1789. Fourteen were pushed out during the Civil War for supporting the Confederacy.
Apart from Swalwell, the other representatives who could face expulsion are:
“Stick ’em all in one resolution, with one (up) or down vote,” lawyer and Democratic congressional candidate George Conway said on social media. “Let’s see who actually believes in standards of decency versus scoring b——- partisan political points.”
With midterm elections just a few months away, the temptation for lawmakers may be to … clean House.