Status of a Member of the House Who Has
Been Indicted for or Convicted of a Felony .
Summary
There are no federal statutes or Rules of the House of Representatives that directly affect the status of a Member of Congress who has been indicted for a crime that constitutes a felony. No rights or privileges are forfeited under the Constitution, statutory law, or the Rules of the House merely upon an indictment for an offense, prior to an establishment of guilt under the judicial
system. Under House Rules, therefore, an indicted Member may continue to participate in congressional proceedings and considerations. Under the Constitution, a person under indictment
is not disqualified from being a Member of or a candidate for re-election to Congress.
Internal party rules in the House, however, require an indicted chairman or ranking Member of a House
committee, or a member of the House party leadership, to temporarily step aside from his or her leadership or chairmanship position. Additionally, a change in rules by the House requires the
House Committee on Ethics to either initiate an inquiry by an investigative subcommittee of that Committee within 30 days of the time any Member of the House has been indicted or otherwise
charged with criminal conduct in any state or federal court, or to report to the House the Committee’s reasons for not moving forward.
As to a conviction of a crime, Members of Congress do not automatically forfeit their offices upon conviction of a crime that constitutes a felony. No express constitutional disability or
“disqualification” from Congress exists for the conviction of a crime, other than under the Fourteenth Amendment for certain treasonous conduct by someone who has taken an oath of
office to support the Constitution. Members of the House are, however, instructed by House Rules not to vote in committee or on the House floor once they have been convicted of a crime
for which the punishment may be two or more years’ imprisonment. Furthermore, under party
rules, Members may lose their chairmanships of committees or ranking member status upon conviction of a felony. Conviction of certain crimes may subject—and has subjected in the past—
Members of the House to internal legislative disciplinary proceedings, including resolutions of reprimand or censure, as well as expulsion from the House upon approval of two-thirds of the
Members. Conviction of certain crimes relating to national security offenses would result in the Member’s forfeiture of his or her entire federal pension annuity under the provisions of the so called “Hiss Act” and, under more recent provisions of law, conviction of particular crimes by Members relating to public corruption will result in the loss of the Member’s entire “creditable
service” as a Member for purposes of calculating their federal retirement annuities if the conduct underlying the conviction related to one’s official duties.
Source https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33229.pdf