{
  "id": "93-875",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "93-875",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 344842,
      "date": "2008-11-12",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T22:33:33.708032",
      "title": "Expulsion and Censure Actions Taken by the Full Senate Against Members",
      "summary": "The authority of the United States Senate (as well as of the House) to establish the rules for its own proceedings, to \u201cpunish\u201d its Members for misconduct, and to expel a Member by a vote of two-thirds of Members present and voting, is provided in the Constitution at Article I, Section 5, clause 2. This express grant of authority for the Senate to expel a Senator is, on its face, unlimited\u2014save for the requirement of a two-thirds majority. In the context of what the Supreme Court has characterized as, in effect, an \u201cunbridled discretion\u201d of the body, expulsions in the Senate, as well as the House, have historically been reserved for cases of the most serious misconduct: disloyalty to the government or abuses of one\u2019s official position. The Senate has actually expelled only 15 Members\u201414 of those during the Civil War period for disloyalty to the Union (one of these expulsions was subsequently revoked by the Senate), and the other Senator during the late 1700s for disloyal conduct. The House of Representatives has expelled only five Members in its history, three during the Civil War period, one in 1980, and another in 2002, after convictions for bribery and corruption offenses related to official congressional duties. In the Senate, as well as in the House, however, other Members for whom expulsion was recommended have resigned from office prior to official, formal action by the institution.\nThe term \u201ccensure,\u201d unlike the term \u201cexpel,\u201d does not appear in the Constitution, and has traditionally been used to describe the \u201cpunishment\u201d imposed by the Senate under authority of Article I, Section 5, clause 2, when the full body formally disapproves of conduct by way of the adoption of a resolution expressing such condemnation or disapproval. There is no specific forfeiture of rights or privileges that automatically follows a \u201ccensure\u201d by the Senate. The term \u201ccensure\u201d is used to describe the action of the Senate formally adopting a resolution expressing the body\u2019s \u201ccensure,\u201d \u201ccondemnation,\u201d \u201cdenouncement,\u201d or other expression of disapproval of a Member\u2019s conduct, even when the word \u201ccensure\u201d is not expressly included in the language of the resolution. There is no specific or official hierarchy or ranking of the terms that have been employed in a censure resolution, although there may be certain connotations associated with the language used in a resolution because of precedents and associations with past Members disciplined.\nThe Senate has censured nine Senators for various misconduct, including conduct not a violation of any law or specific written Senate ethics rule, when such conduct is found contrary to \u201cacceptable norms of ethical conduct in the Senate,\u201d contrary to \u201caccepted morals\u201d and \u201csenatorial ethics,\u201d when found to \u201cderogate from the public trust expected of a Senator,\u201d and/or found to be \u201creprehensible\u201d conduct which brings the Senate into \u201cdishonor and disrepute.\u201d Conduct resulting in Senate \u201ccensure\u201d has included violating orders of secrecy of documents; fighting in the Senate (\u201ccensure\u201d); allowing a lobbyist with interests in particular legislation to be on official staff with access to the secret considerations of the legislation by committee (\u201ccondemn\u201d); non-cooperation and abuse of investigating committees of the Senate (\u201ccondemn\u201d); financial irregularities concerning political contributions (\u201ccensure\u201d), office expenses and contributions (\u201cdenounce\u201d), and excessive honoraria, official reimbursements and gifts (\u201cdenounce\u201d).",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": true,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/93-875",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 2405,
          "name": "Government Ethics and Lobbying"
        },
        {
          "source": "CongOpsList",
          "id": 4140,
          "name": "Senate Floor Proceedings"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs"
  ]
}