What term is a type of punishment for a member in congress for a less serious crime?

Answer 1

The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is responsible for defining general ethical standards, standards with regard to gifts, travel, campaign activity, duties of congressional staff and required financial disclosures. The House Ethics Manual defines all the above and also the punishments for any violations of these and all other ethical standards. The Standards Committee investigates, recommends and enforces punishment. Violations of criminal standards are reported to the appropriate Federal and State agencies.

The U.S. Constitution authorizes the following punishments for unethical behavior, in order from the least severe to the most:

1. Reprimand: This level of disapproval of conduct by a member is the least severe and generally does not result in the loss of committee positions. Reprimands are usually given in private and are essentially a "slap on the wrist" form of punishment. As of August 2012 the most recent case of a recommended reprimanded representative is CA Representative Laura Richardson, this should move quickly from a recommended reprimand to an official one within a few days.

2. Reduction of Seniority: There are two types of seniority in Congress, Congressional Seniority and Committee Seniority. The loss of Seniority is party specific and affects a members power in Congress.

3. Condemnation/Censure: Condemnation and Censure generally go hand in hand. Censure requires the member to stand before Congress and listen to the reading of the resolution and their fellow members formally rebuke them on the House floor. Censure will often lead to forced resignation from House Committees. There have been 23 examples of Censure in the entire history of the House and 9 in the Senate. The most recent example of Censure in the House was NY Rep. Charles Rangel who was censured in December of 2010.

4. Expulsion: This is the most severe form of punishment available to Congress. Beyond being removed from Congress some states do not allow expelled members of Congress to be re-elected to that legislature, although this is state specific and the Constitution does not have any such language. Five members have been expelled from the House, the most recently Ohio Rep. James Traficant Jr. in 2002 after his 10-count federal conviction for receiving favors, gifts and money in return for performing official acts.

Finally Congress can levy fines and/or other appropriate sanctions in addition to any of the above, for example in NY Rep. Charles Rangel's case he was ordered in to pay restitution and provide proof of payment for unpaid taxes in addition to his forced resignation from the Ways and Means Committee and having to face Censure.