The Constitutionality of Censuring the President (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised March 12, 2018 |
| Report Number |
LSB10096 |
| Report Type |
Legal Sidebar |
| Authors |
Todd Garvey |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
-
Premium March 2, 2018 (3 pages, $24.95)
add
|
Summary:
House Democrats have
introduced
a resolution that, if approved by the House, would formally “censure
and condemn” President Trump for
disparaging comments on imm
igration issues he allegedly made
during a meeting with Members of Congress.
This is the
second
presidential “
censure” resolution
introduced in the House this Congress.
While each house of
Congress has authority to
discipline
its own
M
embers through censure
,
c
ongressional censure of
the
President
is rare. For that reason, there seems to
be a
recurring question
as to
whether Congress has the constitutional authority to adopt such a measure at
all. As discussed below, it would appear that Congress may censure the President through a
simple (
one
chamber)
or concurrent
(two chamber)
resolution, or other non
-
binding measure, so long as the censure
does not carry with it any legal consequence. This Sidebar will discuss examples of congressional censure
of
the
P
resident before addressing its constitutional validity.
