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The United States Constitution (Article 1, Section 5)[1] gives the House of Representatives the power to expel any member by a two-thirds vote. Expulsion of a Representative is rare: only six members of the House have been expelled in its history. Three of those six were expelled in 1861 for joining the Confederate States of America.[2]
There are also less severe measures with which the House is authorized to discipline members. Censure and reprimand are procedures in which the House may vote to express formal disapproval of a member's conduct. Only a simple majority vote is required. Members who are censured must stand in the well of the House chamber to receive a reading of the censure resolution.[2] A reprimand was once considered synonymous with censure, but in 1976 the House defined a reprimand as a less severe punishment. Members who are reprimanded are not required to stand in the well of the House and have the resolution read to them.
Representatives can also be censured by their state legislatures and state party.
- ^ U.S. Constitution Online, Article 1
- ^ a b CRS Report For Congress Archived July 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine