I won’t argue that’s what should have happened at Tuesdays night Address, I’m just wondering if they could.
I vaguely remember there being some sort of law that prevents law enforcement (or anybody) from keeping congress members from chambers. (Or something like that)
It’s actually in the Constitution, Article 1, Section 6:
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
Also, the Constitution says each House writes its own rules, with the implication that no one else can create rules for them - Section 5:
Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
So Congress could write a rule about removing a member for disorderly behavior during the SOTU address, but no one else could.
Remember, part of Section 6 implies that members of Congress come and go as they please from the Capitol, bypassing security & metal detectors, and cannot be stopped by the Capitol police.
ETA: I was incorrect, I forgot that the House started requiring its members to go through the metal detectors after Jan 6 2021. But that literally took an act of Congress - the House itself voted to impose fines on its members who skipped the metal detectors. And I believe Senators are still exempt because they did not enact such a rule.
Ackshually, you were right the first time, more or less. Capitol Police can’t actually stop Members of Congress from entering or force them to go through metal detectors. What they can do is make note of Members who choose to bypass metal detectors, and pass that information on to the Speaker’s office, which in turn can administer administrative fines.
As to the OP, can the presiding officer of a Joint Session of Congress order disorderly members to be removed from the chamber? Maybe. Probably. It seems plausibly an inherent element of the Section 5 powers @muldoonthief cites. Certainly a 2/3 vote could, but “expel” there is usually taken to mean remove from office entirely, not just momentarily kick out of the chamber, so it probably wouldn’t require that, just a duly enacted rule that empowers the presiding officer to temporarily remove unruly members.
“Breach of the Peace” sounds like it would cover this, right? Or does that mean something totally different in context?
It’s interesting that there’s no mention of a Joint Session in the constitution, so unless both houses have agreed to a set of rules that apply then, each house would actually have to police/control its own members.
I kinda wish Biden had stopped his speech and addressed them.
“You are welcome to make an appointment and I will see you in the Oval Office”
It’s clearly time for such a rule to be established.
I wonder what happens when the metal detector indicates a possible weapon but the Member continues into the building.
Officially, the Speaker of the House invites the president to address a joint session of Congress - he’s a guest there. (And there’s technically no requirement that he give the state of the union as a speech. Jefferson submitted his in writing, and if I recall correctly, that remained the tradition until Woodrow Wilson).
So it’s not really the president’s place to kick a member of Congress out of the chamber.
But it sure as hell would be the Speaker’s role; at the least, she should be empowered to call for a vote of the members as to the appropriate sanction.
Can you imagine if Nancy Pelosi stood up and said “Parson me for interrupting, Mr. President, but if you’ll permit me, we need to clean house before you finish.”
I do not think there is any mechanism to remove a member of congress from the SotU address because they are being jerks.
Although, one has to wonder what would happen if a member became so disruptive that they halted proceedings. Hopefully there is some mechanism to maintain order during proceedings.
Mainly the House punishes members for bad behavior by reprimand, censure or expulsion. A reprimand is a slap on the wrist meant to embarrass the rep. Censure is more stern and often means they get kicked off of their committees (which means they lose power). I am not certain they must lose committee assignments but I think it is a norm.
Expulsion speaks for itself but that is extreme and rare.
Hopefully that is enough to keep them in line.
I definitely remember when a Congressperson shouted “You lie!” at Obama during a SOTU address.
According to the official rules of the House of Representatives
The Speaker shall preserve order and decorum and, in case of disturbance or disorderly conduct in the galleries or in the lobby, may cause the same to be cleared.
Note that it specifically excludes of the floor of the House, i.e., where members are conducting official business. However, further down, the rules say the Sergeant-at Arms shall “maintain order under the direction of the Speaker or other presiding officer.”
In 2012, the presiding officer of the House (not, at that moment, the Speaker) gaveled Rep. Bobby Rush off the floor for wearing a hoodie in support of Trayvon Martin, which means there are some things that can actually get a member kicked out.
And now we know who doesn’t bother to pay attention to the news.
Those are the rules of procedure for the House, but Congress sitting in joint session is not the House. As mentioned earlier, a joint session of Congress is procedurally an awkward thing with no clear rules and no clear mechanism for enforcing order.
Congress could adopt rules for joint sessions through legislation – the Electoral Count Act establishes some rules and procedures of the joint session convened to count Presidential electoral votes. They could also do so in the concurrent resolution that calls a joint session into being. But since all joint sessions (aside of the electoral count) involve just sitting there listening to someone else talk it hasn’t been worth the effort. Maybe that changes next time.
Yes, but it’s the Speaker who gavels the session into order, the Speaker who introduces the President, and the Speaker who adjourns the session. It seems to me the SOTU is under the “jurisdiction” of the House.
Well, if someone can yell during the SotU “YOU LIE!” with no consequences, why would you think insulting the memory of a dead veteran during it is going to bring on any consequences?
There certainly were consequences. Pelosi shot him a look that would have melted solid neutronium.
Video of the incident see about 0:13 to 0:24 (ETA: Note Biden’s reaction too.)
Joe Wilson (the “You lie!” Congressman) was also subsequently reprimanded by the House in a largely party line vote. Whether that amounts to much of a consequence is obviously in the eye of the beholder – he hasn’t had much difficulty getting reelected in the 13 years since his outburst and is still serving in Congress.
What is needed is an amendment to the Constitution forbidding Congress from exempting its members from any law that applies to non-Congressional American citizens.
Good luck getting that one passed.
What law has Congress exempted itself from in this case?