Powell v. McCormack
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Powell v. McCormack was a United States Supreme Court case, decided in 1969. It answered the question of whether Congress can exclude a person who has met the requirements written in the text of the U.S. Constitution and who has been elected from Congress.
The famous Congressman, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. was thrown out of, but was re-elected to his House seat in New York. In January of 1967, following allegations that Powell had misappropriated Committee funds for his personal use and other corruption allegations, the House Democratic Caucus stripped Powell of his committee chairmanship. The full House refused to seat him until completion of an investigation by the Judiciary Committee. In March the House voted 307 to 116 to exclude him. Powell won the special election in April to fill the vacancy caused by his exclusion, but did not take his seat.
When Powell sued to retain his seat, the Supreme Court ruled that the House had acted unconstitutionally when it excluded Powell, a duly elected member, and he returned to the House, but without his seniority.
One of several intricacies of the case involves the distinction between exclusion and expulsion. Under Article I, section 5, of the U.S. Constitution, the House has the authority to expel a member "with the Concurrence of two thirds." However, Powell was prevented from taking his oath and hence, was technically never a member of the House that could be expelled. Powell's prevention from taking his oath and his seat, is an exclusion, not an expulsion.
This case is notable historically for the possible racist undertones of Powell's exclusion at the time (late 1960s). As a black representative from Harlem, Powell was at the time the highest-ranking black man in the United States.
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