If a House Majority Leader were forced from their post, how would this happen?
Assuming the ML doesn’t step down, how might the majority caucus cast him/her from the ML post? What’s the procedure?
Is the MJs actual seat then secure until the voters vote in the next election in that district? Or can a US Rep be expelled from the House by the members?
Has either action ever happened in the US House?
Thanks.
In theory, if a majority of the majority caucus votes to elect another majority leader, the change is made. The caucus will meet, there will be a motion and a vote.
Of course, the majority leader is so powerful that it’s very hard to raise opposition to him. If you fail, vengence will be meted out, in the form of bad committee assignments, fewer perks, and less money for their campaigns.
The caucus can’t expell the leader; they can just remove him from his leadership position. He would continue as a representative and can run again and be reelected.
Congress once voted to expell a member (Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.), but it looks like the Supreme Court declared that unconstitutional.
That’s not the best case to use to explain expulsion. Congress has expelled members in a perfectly constitutional manner: most recently, James Traficant – cite.