Article II, section 4.

Article I, section 2, clause 5.

Section 3, clause 6.

clause 7.

CHAPTER XV

POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE SEPARATE HOUSES

I. IMPEACHMENT.

The President, Vice-President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

The House of Representatives shall sole power of impeachment.

have the

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend Section 3, further than to removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.

The term "civil officers from military and naval

Who may be offences by courts-martial. not be impeached.

impeached.

is here used in distinction officers, who are tried for Members of Congress may It has been determined that they are subject only to the rules of the house of which they are members.

What constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors has never been accurately defined, but they are understood

to be

ied f

to be those offences of an official nature which the ordi-
nary courts of law cannot reach; such as, abuse of
power, acceptance of bribes, or intemperance.

The The method

The House of Representatives has the sole power to
prefer charges of impeachment. These take the place
of the indictment in the ordinary criminal trial.
Senate has the sole power to try all impeachments. The
Chief Justice of the United States must preside in the
trial of the President, while in ordinary trials the pre-
siding officer is the Vice-President or the President pro
tempore. The manner of conducting the trial resembles
that of a trial by jury. Each Senator is sworn to be
impartial in his decision; managers from the House
present the charges at the bar of the Senate; the ac-
cused may answer in person or through his counsel;
and witnesses are examined. When all the evidence has
been submitted, the Senate deliberates on the case in
secret session. In order that impeachment may not be
used for party purposes, it is provided that there shall
be no conviction except by a two-thirds vote. During
the progress of the trial, the officer impeached is per-
mitted to perform his regular duties.

of trial.

No action can be taken by the Senate other than to remove the convicted official from office and to disqualify him from holding any office under the United States. If the offence upon which the conviction is secured is Judgment one punishable by law, the person is liable to a regular tion. trial in the courts. The President may not grant a pardon in cases of impeachment.

on convic

Largely because of the cumbersome method of procedure, the number of impeachment trials has been small. These have been the following: Senator William Blount Impeachin 1799; Judge John Pickering of the United States Supreme Court in 1803; Judge Samuel Chase of the United States Supreme Court in 1804; Judge James H.

ment trials.

Section 5, clause 1. Determination of membership and quorums.

Contested

seats in the Senate.

Peck of the Federal District Court in 1830; Judge W. H. Humphries of the United States District Court in 1862; President Andrew Johnson in 1868; and Secretary of War W. W. Belknap in 1876. Judge Humphries was the only one convicted.

II. THE QUORUM, JOURNAL, AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide.

It is obvious that the power to judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of members of a legislative body, must exist somewhere. This right could not be better placed than in the houses constituting the legis lative body, for by the exercise of this right the independence and purity of the individual houses are preserved.

In the Senate the question raised in a contest usually applies to whether a Senator has been duly elected. It has been held by the Senate that to deprive a member of his seat for bribery or corruption in the course of his election, it must be shown that he was personally guilty of corrupt practices, that the corruption took place with his sanction, or that a number of votes sufficient to affect the result were corruptly changed. As an instance, Mr. Clark of Montana was refused a seat in the Senate during the first session of the 56th Congress, because it was proved that he had secured his election by bribing members of the State legislature.

In the House the name of the person possessing the

certificate of election signed by the Governor of his State is entered on the roll of the House, but the seat may still be contested. Many cases of contested elections are Contests in considered by each new house. There were thirty-two

seats contested in the 54th Congress. Such cases are referred to the Committee of Elections, which hears the testimony, and presents it to the House for final decision. Each of the cases when presented to the House consumes from two to five days which might otherwise be used for the purposes of legislation. The law provides that not more than $2,000 shall be paid either of the contestants for expenses, but even then, it is estimated, these contests cost the government, all told, $40,000 annually. When the decision is rendered by the House, the vote is, in most cases, strictly on party lines, regardless of the testimony. In view of these facts, it has been suggested that the Supreme Court decide all contested elections.

Many disputes have arisen over the question whether the majority necessary to constitute a quorum means a majority of the total number possible to be elected to each house or a majority of those who are actually members, not counting vacancies. The latter view seems to be most in favor. When the House of Representatives is in committee of the whole, 100 members are required to make a quorum. If it appears upon the count of the Spcaker or the roll-call of the House that a majority is not present, business must be suspended until a quorum is secured. Fifteen members, including the Speaker, may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members. This is accomplished as follows: the doors of the House are closed, the roll is called, and absentees noted. The Sergeant-at-arms, when directed by the majority of those present, sends for, arrests, and brings into the House those members

the House.

What conquorum.

stitutes a

Section 5, clause 2. Rules and discipline.

Section 5, clause 3.

nal.

who have not a sufficient excuse for absence. When a
quorum is secured the business is resumed.

*

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.

The right to make its own rules is usually intrusted to every assembly, and this power should be vested in the houses of the National legislature. But rules would be without value unless there were some means of punishment provided for those who disregard them. It is also desirable that, in extreme cases, there should be some method of redress. The two-thirds vote necessary to expel a member seems wise in order that expulsion may not be easily used in the interest of a faction or of a political party.

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings and The Jour- from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.

Senate
Journal.

By means of the Journal, read at the opening of each day's session, the official record of the proceedings of Congress is made known to the public. The debates do not appear in the Journal, but are published each day in the "Congressional Record."

Rule IV of the Senate with reference to the Journal is as follows: "The proceedings of the Senate shall be briefly and accurately entered on the Journal. Messages of the President in full, titles of bills and joint resolutions, and such parts as shall be affected by proposed amendments; every vote, and a brief statement of the contents of each petition, memorial, or paper presented to the Senate shall be entered."

*For the power of the Speaker in counting a quorum, see p. 176.