lawfag here
anon posted a doc on the expulsion of members of congress - it is interdasting so i made a summary for anons - this was written on 1/11/18 - why then and who requested it? maybe a good diganon can find out
the U.S. Constitution expressly grants each house of Congress the power to discipline its own Members for misconduct
there are 2 sides to this power - expulsion abd exclusion - the latter is the congress's right to refuse to seat a member. The former is its right to expel a member already seated.
congress may only exclude for the reasons stated in the consitution - age and residency requirements. congress may expel and requires a 2/3 majority to do so. what are grounds for this action?
The U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts have not decided a case directly bearing on the expulsion of a Member of Congress. the reason for this is that courts view this process as a "political matter" which should not be adjudicated. the few cases with statements elevant to the issue suggest a broad view of the expulsion power. that said, there are a number of arguments to limit or subject this power to judicial review so the outcome is not certain - particularly with justices that like to make social policy or hand out political power.
in this regard a disctinction is made between expulsion for condect before vs during the service on congress. if can be argued that if the conduct occurred prior and the voters put them in it would require a much stronger showing. of course that presumes public awareness of the misconduct at the time of election.
the over riding issue are the competing interests in preserving the integrity of a given house versus the interest in preserving the results of a democratic election - in other words who the fuck knows? and can any anon imagine 2/3 of either body agreeing to anything? not now - but hopefully soon.