Replies

No. Members of Congress cannot be impeached. They can only be expelled from the House or Senate by vote of those bodies, after civil investigations by those bodies. The last person expelled from the House was James Trafficant (D - Ohio), who refused to resign after he had been convicted of bribery and malfeasance in office and was shortly scheduled to go to jail.

Impeachment CAN, but does not automatically, bar the person from any future federal office. Judge Alcee Hastings argued against disqualification when he was removed as a federal judge. The House did not disqualify him. And now he is "the formerly-Honorable, Honorable Cong. Alcee Hastings" from Florida.

P.S. My primary is over, but because of certain legal and ethical problems, the incumbent, Charles Taylor may withdraw/be forced out, and I am in the running to be chosen as the replacement nominee for Congress in the 11th District of NC. For more information, see the article below, and my website. I still need your help.

Congressman Billybob

Latest article: "Avoid These Stocks Like the Plague"
John / Billybob

Members of Congress cannot be impeached.
And why is that? Hmmmm...let's see.
What about William Blount?
On February 5, 1798, as the Senate prepared for his trial and still uncertain as to whether or not a senator, or former senator, was even liable for impeachment, it issued the arrest order. The Sergeant at Arms ultimately failed in his first mission, as Blount refused to be taken from Tennessee. A year later, the Senate dismissed the charges for lack of jurisdiction—and possibly for lack of Blount.
Since Black's isn't online...Bouvier's Law Dictionary 1856 Edition
Civil officer...a senator of the United States, it was decided, was not a civil officer, within the meaning of this clause in the constitution. Senate Journals, 10th January, 1799 (who decided this you ask?)
Impeachment...3. The persons liable to impeachment are the president, vice-president, and all civil officers of the United States. Art. 2, s. 4. A question arose upon an impeachment before the senate, in 1799, whether a senator was a civil officer of the United States, within the purview of this section of the constitution, and it was decided by the senate, by a vote of fourteen against eleven, that he was not. Senate Journ., January 10th, 1799; Story on Const. 791; Rawle on Const. 213, 214 Serg. Const. Law, 376. (nothing on the House, only the Senate)
The Senate...covering their own backsides for over 200 years.
If the members of Congress, both the House and Senate, aren't civil officers then I don't know what is.

Good luck on the campaign.

And it's SO vague...Impeachment
Under the Constitution, the House of Representatives has the power to impeach a government official, in effect serving as prosecutor. The Senate then holds the impeachment trial, essentially serving as jury and judge, except in the impeachment of a president when the chief justice presides.

And the main question is...If House and Senate members weren't supposed to be covered by the impeachment article why is there a special provision only in the case of a presidential impeachment?
I find it hard to fathom that impeachment was intended to cover just judges and presidents.