WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.299 Welcome to the Deep Dive. Yeah. We're incredibly 00:00:03.299 --> 00:00:05.139 glad you could join us today. Yeah, thanks for 00:00:05.139 --> 00:00:06.940 being here. If you are the kind of person who, 00:00:06.940 --> 00:00:09.580 you know, wants a shortcut to being well -informed, 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:12.259 you're definitely in the right place. Today, 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:15.000 we are setting out on a very specific mission. 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:17.920 We are. We're going to explore the dramatic, 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:21.789 the shocking, and... honestly, surprisingly wild 00:00:21.789 --> 00:00:25.309 history of how the United States Senate disciplines 00:00:25.309 --> 00:00:27.870 its own members. It's a history that completely 00:00:27.870 --> 00:00:30.469 changes how you view the modern legislative branch. 00:00:30.690 --> 00:00:33.329 I mean, most people really don't fully grasp 00:00:33.329 --> 00:00:35.829 the mechanics of congressional discipline until 00:00:35.829 --> 00:00:38.090 they see the actual historical record just, you 00:00:38.090 --> 00:00:40.310 know, laid out in front of them. Right. And to 00:00:40.310 --> 00:00:42.789 do that, we are pulling our insights from a single, 00:00:42.909 --> 00:00:45.789 highly detailed source for today's deep dive. 00:00:45.969 --> 00:00:48.710 We're examining a Wikipedia article titled List 00:00:48.710 --> 00:00:51.390 of United States Senators Expelled or Censured. 00:00:51.450 --> 00:00:54.109 Which is essentially the ultimate permanent record 00:00:54.109 --> 00:00:56.369 for the upper chamber of Congress. It tracks 00:00:56.369 --> 00:00:58.450 every time the Senate has had to step in and 00:00:58.450 --> 00:01:01.329 police the behavior of its own. But before we 00:01:01.329 --> 00:01:03.070 delve into those records, I need to make a vital 00:01:03.070 --> 00:01:05.349 point regarding the nature of this source material. 00:01:05.609 --> 00:01:08.299 Good idea. This historical document contains 00:01:08.299 --> 00:01:11.620 some heavily politically charged content. I mean, 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:13.700 we are going to be discussing everything from 00:01:13.700 --> 00:01:18.019 Confederate rebellions to modern political scandals 00:01:18.019 --> 00:01:19.939 that cross both sides of the aisle. Oh, yeah. 00:01:20.019 --> 00:01:22.560 Both sides. Because of that, I want to be explicitly 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:25.180 clear with you, the listener. We are not taking 00:01:25.180 --> 00:01:28.299 any sides today. Absolutely not. We are not endorsing 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:30.280 the viewpoints of any politicians mentioned, 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:33.560 nor are we endorsing any political stance found 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:36.560 in the source material. Our job here. is to impartially 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.040 report the facts exactly as they appear in the 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.859 provided text, just exploring the history of 00:01:41.859 --> 00:01:44.140 Senate discipline without any modern political 00:01:44.140 --> 00:01:47.159 bias. That is a very helpful boundary to set. 00:01:47.299 --> 00:01:49.540 We're really just here to understand the history 00:01:49.540 --> 00:01:52.640 and the sheer drama of how this all works. Okay, 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:54.900 let's unpack this. Let's do it. We need to start 00:01:54.900 --> 00:01:57.299 with the absolute ultimate punishment a senator 00:01:57.299 --> 00:02:00.500 can face. What does it actually take to get formally 00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:02.319 expelled from the United States Senate? Well, 00:02:02.459 --> 00:02:05.319 it requires clearing a very high bar, which is 00:02:05.319 --> 00:02:08.719 entirely by constitutional design. The U .S. 00:02:08.740 --> 00:02:11.120 Constitution gives the Senate the power to expel 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:14.580 any of its members, but it mandates a two -thirds 00:02:14.580 --> 00:02:17.259 majority vote to make it happen. Wow, two -thirds. 00:02:17.419 --> 00:02:20.590 Yeah. It's not a tool that a simple, razor -thin 00:02:20.590 --> 00:02:22.650 majority can use to just, you know, push out 00:02:22.650 --> 00:02:25.069 a political rival. Furthermore, there's a crucial 00:02:25.069 --> 00:02:27.349 constitutional distinction regarding how the 00:02:27.349 --> 00:02:29.509 Senate handles its own compared to other branches 00:02:29.509 --> 00:02:31.669 of the federal government. Right, because we 00:02:31.669 --> 00:02:34.409 often hear the word impeachment used when we 00:02:34.409 --> 00:02:37.129 talk about removing a president or a federal 00:02:37.129 --> 00:02:40.150 judge. Exactly. The Senate does have power over 00:02:40.150 --> 00:02:42.490 impeachment trials and convictions for executive 00:02:42.490 --> 00:02:46.069 and judicial federal officials. But when it comes 00:02:46.069 --> 00:02:48.409 to their own colleagues in the chamber. The Senate 00:02:48.409 --> 00:02:51.250 actually ruled way back in 1798 that senators 00:02:51.250 --> 00:02:53.509 cannot be impeached. They can only be expelled. 00:02:53.650 --> 00:02:56.330 He can only be expelled. That 1798 ruling sets 00:02:56.330 --> 00:02:58.909 the stage perfectly for the very first time the 00:02:58.909 --> 00:03:01.110 Senate ever used this ultimate boot. It really 00:03:01.110 --> 00:03:03.550 does. Because the debate over whether a senator 00:03:03.550 --> 00:03:06.490 could be impeached happened during the trial 00:03:06.490 --> 00:03:08.069 of a man who had already been kicked out of the 00:03:08.069 --> 00:03:10.469 chamber. Let's talk about the trailblazer of 00:03:10.469 --> 00:03:13.789 treason, William Blount. Right. William Blount 00:03:13.789 --> 00:03:16.750 of Tennessee. He holds the distinct historical 00:03:16.750 --> 00:03:19.849 honor of being the very first senator expelled, 00:03:20.069 --> 00:03:23.189 which happened in 1797. He was a Democratic Republican, 00:03:23.409 --> 00:03:26.289 right? He was. And his infraction was not some 00:03:26.289 --> 00:03:29.229 minor ethical slip up or a misunderstanding over 00:03:29.229 --> 00:03:31.490 campaign funds. He was expelled for treason. 00:03:31.650 --> 00:03:34.009 Actual treason. Actual treason. Specifically, 00:03:34.229 --> 00:03:37.689 he was involved in a massive conspiracy to incite 00:03:37.689 --> 00:03:40.750 the Creek and Cherokee Indians to assist Great 00:03:40.750 --> 00:03:43.210 Britain in launching an invasion into Spanish 00:03:43.210 --> 00:03:45.949 Florida. It sounds like the plot of an 18th century 00:03:45.949 --> 00:03:48.629 action movie. It really does. A sitting United 00:03:48.629 --> 00:03:51.110 States senator trying to orchestrate an international 00:03:51.110 --> 00:03:54.090 invasion with foreign powers and Native American 00:03:54.090 --> 00:03:56.409 tribes just a few years after the country was 00:03:56.409 --> 00:03:59.259 founded. It highlights just how fragile and volatile 00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:02.259 the early republic was. But strategically for 00:04:02.259 --> 00:04:05.120 the Senate as an institution, Blount's case established 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:07.780 the absolute precedent. Also. By dealing with 00:04:07.780 --> 00:04:10.560 his incredible overreach, the Senate firmly established 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.439 that expulsion, not impeachment, was the proper 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:16.220 constitutional mechanism for removing a rogue 00:04:16.220 --> 00:04:20.040 member. So Blount kicks things off in 1797 with 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:24.189 a. literal treasonous conspiracy. But if we look 00:04:24.189 --> 00:04:26.310 at the broader timeline from the founding fathers 00:04:26.310 --> 00:04:29.389 all the way to today, expulsion is incredibly 00:04:29.389 --> 00:04:31.689 rare. Extremely rare. I was looking at the statistics 00:04:31.689 --> 00:04:34.329 in our source and expulsion has only ever happened 00:04:34.329 --> 00:04:36.529 15 times in the entire history of the United 00:04:36.529 --> 00:04:39.470 States. Yeah. And what is truly staggering is 00:04:39.470 --> 00:04:42.850 that 14 of those 15 expulsions happened right 00:04:42.850 --> 00:04:45.250 around the Civil War. That represents a massive 00:04:45.250 --> 00:04:48.220 concentration of disciplinary action. After Blount 00:04:48.220 --> 00:04:51.379 was removed in 1797, the Senate did not expel 00:04:51.379 --> 00:04:54.680 a single person for over six decades. Wow. Then, 00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:57.699 in 1861, the floodgates opened. This wasn't about 00:04:57.699 --> 00:04:59.639 individual corruption anymore. This was about 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:01.319 the secession of the southern states and the 00:05:01.319 --> 00:05:03.620 fracturing of the nation itself. Let's look at 00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:05.379 the atmosphere of the chamber during that time. 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:07.980 You have a massive portion of the country actively 00:05:07.980 --> 00:05:10.660 declaring a rebellion, and the Senate has to 00:05:10.660 --> 00:05:13.060 formally sever ties with the members representing 00:05:13.060 --> 00:05:16.870 those states. Right. In 1861, the Senate expelled 00:05:16.870 --> 00:05:19.589 a large block of Southern Democrats for supporting 00:05:19.589 --> 00:05:22.389 the Confederate rebellion. You have James M. 00:05:22.410 --> 00:05:24.649 Mason and Robert M .T. Hunter from Virginia, 00:05:24.930 --> 00:05:28.410 Thomas Lanier Clingman and Thomas Bragg from 00:05:28.410 --> 00:05:31.329 North Carolina, James Chestnut Jr. from South 00:05:31.329 --> 00:05:34.750 Carolina. The list from 1861 is extensive. It 00:05:34.750 --> 00:05:36.709 really paints a picture of the empty desks that 00:05:36.709 --> 00:05:38.939 must have been sitting in the chamber. You also 00:05:38.939 --> 00:05:41.480 had Alfred O .P. Nicholson of Tennessee, Charles 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:44.259 B. Mitchell of Arkansas, John Hemphill of Texas, 00:05:44.660 --> 00:05:47.680 Louis Widfall of Texas, and John C. Breckenridge 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:50.319 of Kentucky. All of them at once. Every single 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:52.540 one of them expelled for the exact same reason, 00:05:52.660 --> 00:05:54.620 throwing their support behind the Confederacy. 00:05:54.819 --> 00:05:58.139 And the explosions didn't stop in 1861. The momentum 00:05:58.139 --> 00:06:00.480 carried over into the next year as the war escalated. 00:06:00.579 --> 00:06:04.560 That's right. In 1862, the Senate formally expelled 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:07.800 Tristan Polk and Waldo P. Johnson, both representing 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:10.439 Missouri, along with Jesse D. Bright of Indiana. 00:06:10.819 --> 00:06:13.540 All three were removed for supporting the rebellion. 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:17.300 So that specific condensed period really tested 00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:19.639 the mechanisms of the Senate like nothing before 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:22.600 or since. They were effectively purging a third 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:25.000 of their own body. Looking at that intense period 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:26.920 of history, there's a lot of black and white. 00:06:27.310 --> 00:06:30.069 But this source also notes a strange gray area 00:06:30.069 --> 00:06:32.509 with one of those men. There is a remarkable 00:06:32.509 --> 00:06:35.089 historical footnote here regarding a man named 00:06:35.089 --> 00:06:37.730 William K. Sebastian. He was a Democrat from 00:06:37.730 --> 00:06:39.649 Arkansas and he was expelled right alongside 00:06:39.649 --> 00:06:42.629 that first group in 1861 for supporting the rebellion. 00:06:42.889 --> 00:06:45.430 Right. However, his expulsion was actually posthumously 00:06:45.430 --> 00:06:49.149 reversed in 1877. Wait, posthumously. The Senate 00:06:49.149 --> 00:06:51.329 went back into the historical record 16 years 00:06:51.329 --> 00:06:54.110 later after the man had already died just to 00:06:54.110 --> 00:06:57.079 undo his expulsion. They did. It highlights how 00:06:57.079 --> 00:06:59.439 incredibly complex the post -war reconciliation 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:03.360 period was in Washington. The Senate felt compelled 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:05.879 to officially reverse the ultimate punishment 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:08.319 for a former colleague who was no longer even 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:11.360 alive to see his name cleared. That is a fascinating 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:14.259 piece of institutional history. But as we move 00:07:14.259 --> 00:07:17.019 past the Civil War and Reconstruction, we hit 00:07:17.019 --> 00:07:20.740 a massive drought. According to the source, no 00:07:20.740 --> 00:07:22.660 one has been officially expelled from the United 00:07:22.660 --> 00:07:25.860 States Senate since 1862. Not a single person. 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:29.139 So what does this all mean? Did politicians just 00:07:29.139 --> 00:07:31.300 suddenly start behaving perfectly once the Civil 00:07:31.300 --> 00:07:34.259 War ended? Yeah, did they? Far from it. What 00:07:34.259 --> 00:07:37.040 we see instead is a major tactical shift in how 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:39.160 Senate discipline actually plays out in the real 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:42.220 world. We enter the era of the failed expulsions 00:07:42.220 --> 00:07:44.079 or what you might call the you -can't -fire -me 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:47.370 -I -quit club. I love that. The Senate has initiated 00:07:47.370 --> 00:07:49.610 many expulsion proceedings over the decades, 00:07:49.829 --> 00:07:52.810 but they rarely result in an actual formal expulsion. 00:07:52.930 --> 00:07:55.769 And that comes back to that incredibly high constitutional 00:07:55.769 --> 00:07:58.269 bar you mentioned earlier. Getting two thirds 00:07:58.269 --> 00:08:00.610 of the Senate to agree on anything is difficult, 00:08:00.790 --> 00:08:03.689 let alone destroying a colleague's career. Precisely. 00:08:03.689 --> 00:08:06.370 In many of these historical case studies, the 00:08:06.370 --> 00:08:08.750 expulsion effort simply fails to secure that 00:08:08.750 --> 00:08:11.399 necessary two thirds vote on the floor. Or what 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:13.860 else happens? In other instances, the proceedings 00:08:13.860 --> 00:08:15.939 just fade away because the senator in question 00:08:15.939 --> 00:08:19.339 dies or their term naturally expires before a 00:08:19.339 --> 00:08:22.120 final vote can happen. But most commonly in the 00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:24.399 modern era, the senator sees the writing on the 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:27.199 wall and chooses to resign while the proceedings 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:29.519 are still taking place. The source outlines several 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.000 major case studies of these failed expulsions, 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:35.480 and they span all kinds of behavior. Let's look 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:38.399 at how these tests of the system evolved. Going 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:41.220 way back to 1808, we have an incident that feels 00:08:41.220 --> 00:08:43.440 like a sequel to the William Blount conspiracy. 00:08:43.799 --> 00:08:46.580 John Smith. Yes, John Smith, a Democratic Republican 00:08:46.580 --> 00:08:49.399 from Ohio. Smith was accused of assisting Aaron 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:52.100 Burr's Western Expedition, which was a highly 00:08:52.100 --> 00:08:54.519 controversial and suspected treasonous plot at 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:57.139 the time. The Senate initiated proceedings to 00:08:57.139 --> 00:08:59.240 expel Smith, but when it came time for the floor 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:01.980 vote, it failed to reach the two -thirds threshold. 00:09:02.379 --> 00:09:04.799 So he survived the formal vote. He survived the 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:06.940 vote. However, the political pressure and the 00:09:06.940 --> 00:09:09.639 public scrutiny were clearly too much to bear 00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:12.059 because he ended up resigning just two weeks 00:09:12.059 --> 00:09:14.600 later. So even a failed expulsion can act as 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:17.159 a forced resignation. Exactly. Fast forward to 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:20.600 1893 and we see a totally different type of defense. 00:09:21.639 --> 00:09:24.320 William N. Roach, a Democrat from North Dakota, 00:09:24.539 --> 00:09:27.440 was charged with embezzlement. In Roach's case, 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:29.799 he was not expelled, but the reasoning is quite 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:32.350 unique. The Senate determined that his charges 00:09:32.350 --> 00:09:34.830 of embezzlement were simply too far in the past 00:09:34.830 --> 00:09:37.470 to warrant his removal from the chamber at that 00:09:37.470 --> 00:09:39.929 specific time. They literally used a statute 00:09:39.929 --> 00:09:42.549 of limitations defense. It was essentially the 00:09:42.549 --> 00:09:44.669 Senate applying a statute of limitations defense 00:09:44.669 --> 00:09:47.750 to their own disciplinary proceedings. That is 00:09:47.750 --> 00:09:50.870 incredible. Then in 1907, we get a case that 00:09:50.870 --> 00:09:52.830 tests the boundaries of religion and government. 00:09:53.090 --> 00:09:56.230 Reed Smoot, a Republican from Utah. This was 00:09:56.230 --> 00:09:58.610 a highly publicized and deeply controversial 00:09:58.610 --> 00:10:01.429 ordeal. A Senate committee asserted that Smoot, 00:10:01.509 --> 00:10:03.690 because of his Mormon faith, belonged to a religion 00:10:03.690 --> 00:10:05.830 that was inherently incompatible with United 00:10:05.830 --> 00:10:08.490 States law. They actively tried to expel him 00:10:08.490 --> 00:10:10.830 based entirely on his religious affiliation. 00:10:11.129 --> 00:10:13.210 But when the measure went to the full Senate, 00:10:13.309 --> 00:10:16.950 they famously voted 43 to 27 that his religion 00:10:16.950 --> 00:10:19.350 was not relevant to his standing as a senator, 00:10:19.470 --> 00:10:21.870 and he kept his seat. It is a relief to see the 00:10:21.870 --> 00:10:24.659 chamber reject a religious test like that. Now, 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.100 moving into the 20th century, we had a major 00:10:27.100 --> 00:10:30.159 moment for the First Amendment in 1919 with Robert 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:32.299 M. La Follette, a Republican from Wisconsin. 00:10:32.620 --> 00:10:35.559 He was formally charged with disloyalty. What's 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:38.360 fascinating here is the specific context of that 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:41.120 disloyalty charge. La Follette had given a passionate 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:43.899 speech opposing the United States entry into 00:10:43.899 --> 00:10:46.460 World War I. So it was about his speech? Yes. 00:10:46.620 --> 00:10:49.399 The attempt to expel him was essentially an attempt 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:51.320 by the government to police his political speech 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:53.720 and punish him for dissenting against a major 00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:55.600 war effort. That's a huge deal. Fortunately, 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:57.799 the full Senate recognized the dangerous precedent 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:01.000 that would set. By a vote of 50 to 21, they found 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:03.240 that expulsion was not warranted, effectively 00:11:03.240 --> 00:11:05.659 protecting a senator's right to voice opposition 00:11:05.659 --> 00:11:08.059 to a war. That feels like a defining moment for 00:11:08.059 --> 00:11:09.679 free speech protections within the government 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:12.740 itself. Let's look at one more of these failed 00:11:12.740 --> 00:11:17.340 votes. In 1942, we have William Langer, a Republican 00:11:17.340 --> 00:11:20.159 from North Dakota. Langer was charged with corruption 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:22.799 and moral turpitude stemming from his previous 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:24.820 time serving as the governor of North Dakota. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:28.049 What exactly is moral turpitude? For context, 00:11:28.350 --> 00:11:30.750 moral turpitude is a legal concept referring 00:11:30.750 --> 00:11:33.330 to conduct that is considered deeply contrary 00:11:33.330 --> 00:11:36.210 to community standards of justice, honesty or 00:11:36.210 --> 00:11:39.009 good morals. Got it. Despite carrying that heavy 00:11:39.009 --> 00:11:41.330 baggage into the chamber, Langer survived the 00:11:41.330 --> 00:11:43.730 vote. The Senate voted against his expulsion 00:11:43.730 --> 00:11:46.570 52 to 30. So those are the individuals who actually 00:11:46.570 --> 00:11:49.070 faced the vote and survived. But if we bring 00:11:49.070 --> 00:11:51.470 the timeline closer to the present day, we see 00:11:51.470 --> 00:11:53.809 a totally different pattern emerge. Resignations. 00:11:53.809 --> 00:11:56.289 Right. Modern senators do not even let the proceedings 00:11:56.289 --> 00:11:58.889 get to a final floor vote. They opt to resign 00:11:58.889 --> 00:12:01.809 rather than face the music of a very public, 00:12:01.990 --> 00:12:04.769 very humiliating expulsion trial. We see a steady 00:12:04.769 --> 00:12:07.230 string of these high profile resignations in 00:12:07.230 --> 00:12:10.940 recent history. In 1982, Harrison A. Williams, 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.860 a Democrat from New Jersey, was convicted of 00:12:13.860 --> 00:12:17.039 bribery and conspiracy in the infamous Abscam 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:20.480 scandal. Oh, Abscam. For those unfamiliar, Abscam 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:23.379 was a massive FBI sting operation where agents 00:12:23.379 --> 00:12:26.120 posed as wealthy Arab sheikhs to offer bribes 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:29.100 to public officials. Facing almost certain expulsion 00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:31.600 after his conviction, Williams resigned before 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:33.860 the full Senate could cast their votes. We saw 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:37.039 the exact same maneuver in 1995 with Bob Packwood, 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:39.850 a Republican. from Oregon, he was facing severe 00:12:39.850 --> 00:12:42.230 charges of sexual misconduct and abuse of power. 00:12:42.750 --> 00:12:45.049 Just like Williams, Pack would resign before 00:12:45.049 --> 00:12:47.169 the Senate could finalize his removal. And the 00:12:47.169 --> 00:12:49.970 pattern continued in 2011 with John Ensign, a 00:12:49.970 --> 00:12:52.750 Republican from Nevada. He was charged with serious 00:12:52.750 --> 00:12:54.929 financial improprieties that stemmed from an 00:12:54.929 --> 00:12:57.629 extramarital affair. Once again, rather than 00:12:57.629 --> 00:12:59.629 letting his colleagues formally throw him out, 00:12:59.750 --> 00:13:02.679 he chose to resign before the final vote. It 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:04.659 is the ultimate face -saving maneuver. You leave 00:13:04.659 --> 00:13:06.299 on your own terms, you control the narrative 00:13:06.299 --> 00:13:08.639 of your exit, and you avoid the historic stain 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:10.759 of being the first person expelled since the 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:13.799 Civil War. But expulsion, or the threat of it 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:16.639 driving a resignation, isn't the only tool that 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:19.080 Santa has. Here's where it gets really interesting. 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:22.340 What happens when a senator's conduct is terrible, 00:13:22.460 --> 00:13:25.759 but maybe not quite treasonous or criminal enough 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:28.700 to warrant expulsion? That brings us to the lesser 00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:31.820 but still highly significant punishment censure. 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:35.279 A censure is, at its core, a formal statement 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:37.960 of disapproval issued by the Senate against one 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:40.419 of its own. But just to be clear, it has no actual 00:13:40.419 --> 00:13:42.600 teeth, right? There's no formal penalty attached 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:45.200 to a censure. Correct. It carries no formal disciplinary 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:47.860 penalty. A censured senator does not lose their 00:13:47.860 --> 00:13:50.120 seat, they do not lose their voting rights on 00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:52.399 the floor, and they aren't forced to pay a fine. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:55.720 It is strictly a public dressing down by your 00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:58.600 peers. It is considered the weakest form of discipline 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:00.580 the Senate issues. And it's worth noting that 00:14:00.580 --> 00:14:02.059 this differs from the House of Representatives. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:04.860 How so? The House actually has an intermediary 00:14:04.860 --> 00:14:07.899 step called a reprimand, which sits below a censure. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:09.919 The Senate does not have that. They only have 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:12.799 expulsion or censure. But even without the formal 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:16.279 teeth or loss of voting power. A censure seems 00:14:16.279 --> 00:14:19.940 to carry a heavy, heavy curse. It does. The source 00:14:19.940 --> 00:14:23.200 notes that only nine senators have been formally 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:25.200 censured in the entire history of the United 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:28.820 States. Out of those nine individuals, do you 00:14:28.820 --> 00:14:31.080 know how many were ever reelected by their home 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:35.100 state voters? Just one. One. Only one of the 00:14:35.100 --> 00:14:37.899 nine censured senators has ever won re -election. 00:14:38.190 --> 00:14:40.470 It's incredible. If we connect this to the bigger 00:14:40.470 --> 00:14:42.850 picture, it tells us something profound about 00:14:42.850 --> 00:14:44.950 the relationship between the Senate and the American 00:14:44.950 --> 00:14:47.309 electorate. The Senate might only be issuing 00:14:47.309 --> 00:14:49.649 what amounts to a slap on the wrist, but the 00:14:49.649 --> 00:14:52.450 voters treat a censure as a permanent scarlet 00:14:52.450 --> 00:14:54.570 letter. Don't forget it. Even without formal 00:14:54.570 --> 00:14:57.090 penalties, being censured effectively destroys 00:14:57.090 --> 00:14:59.070 a political career in the eyes of the public. 00:14:59.250 --> 00:15:02.110 It is a blinding, flashing signal to the voters 00:15:02.110 --> 00:15:04.309 that this representative has completely lost 00:15:04.309 --> 00:15:07.539 the trust and respect of their peers. So let's 00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:09.940 open up the censure hall of shame and look at 00:15:09.940 --> 00:15:12.279 some of these nine individuals. We can categorize 00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:14.700 them by their infractions. The earliest censures 00:15:14.700 --> 00:15:16.879 seem to fall into the category of leaking state 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:19.720 secrets. The very first censure in Senate history 00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:23.679 falls exactly into this category. In 1811, Timothy 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:26.659 Pickering, a Federalist from Massachusetts, was 00:15:26.659 --> 00:15:29.259 censured for reading confidential documents aloud 00:15:29.259 --> 00:15:32.299 in an open Senate session before an injunction 00:15:32.299 --> 00:15:34.500 of secrecy had been removed. An injunction of 00:15:34.500 --> 00:15:36.559 secrecy? Yeah, an injunction of secrecy is a 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:40.539 strict, formal rule requiring absolute confidentiality 00:15:40.539 --> 00:15:43.320 on sensitive... executive session matters like 00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:46.820 treaties or nominations. Violating it was a massive 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:49.360 breach of protocol. And it happened again just 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:53.019 a few decades later in 1844 with Benjamin Tappan, 00:15:53.100 --> 00:15:56.320 a Democrat from Ohio. He literally released a 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:59.120 copy of President John Tyler's highly sensitive 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:01.600 message regarding the treaty of annexation between 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:04.000 the United States and the Republic of Texas directly 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:06.710 to the New York Evening Post. Leaking a presidential 00:16:06.710 --> 00:16:09.110 treaty message directly to the press during a 00:16:09.110 --> 00:16:11.730 sensitive geopolitical moment is a clear -cut 00:16:11.730 --> 00:16:14.289 case for a formal statement of disapproval. Okay, 00:16:14.350 --> 00:16:16.169 we have to talk about my favorite category from 00:16:16.169 --> 00:16:18.309 this list because it sounds completely unhinged 00:16:18.309 --> 00:16:20.470 by today's standards, brawling in the chamber, 00:16:20.629 --> 00:16:23.230 literally fighting on the Senate floor. In 1902, 00:16:23.490 --> 00:16:26.610 two Democrats from South Carolina, Benjamin Tillman 00:16:26.610 --> 00:16:29.830 and John L. McLaurin, were both censured because 00:16:29.830 --> 00:16:31.850 they got into a physical fistfight with each 00:16:31.850 --> 00:16:35.000 other during a live Senate session. Imagine tuning 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:38.539 into modern C -SPAN coverage and seeing two sitting 00:16:38.539 --> 00:16:41.340 United States senators throwing haymakers at 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:44.320 each other over a legislative disagreement. It 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:46.679 is a shocking breach of decorum that the Senate 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:49.360 simply could not ignore. And what makes this 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:51.700 story even wilder is that Benjamin Tillman, one 00:16:51.700 --> 00:16:53.759 of the men throwing punches on the Senate floor, 00:16:53.980 --> 00:16:56.039 is that one single exception we mentioned earlier. 00:16:56.220 --> 00:16:58.259 That's right. He is the only censured senator 00:16:58.259 --> 00:17:01.360 in U .S. history to ever be reelected. South 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:03.200 Carolina voters apparently did not mind a little 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:05.039 brawling from their representative. It certainly 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:08.119 stands as a historical anomaly. But as we move 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:10.599 further into the 20th century, the reasons for 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:13.700 censure shift away from physical fights and start 00:17:13.700 --> 00:17:16.440 focusing heavily on deep ethical and financial 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:18.720 breaches. Let's walk through those modern staffing 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.579 and financial scandals. How did politicians get 00:17:21.579 --> 00:17:25.150 themselves censured in the 1900s? In 1929, Hiram 00:17:25.150 --> 00:17:27.970 Bingham III, a Republican from Connecticut, was 00:17:27.970 --> 00:17:30.650 censured for a blatant textbook conflict of interest. 00:17:30.950 --> 00:17:34.009 He employed a man named Charles Anson as a Senate 00:17:34.009 --> 00:17:36.849 staff member, while Anson was simultaneously 00:17:36.849 --> 00:17:39.589 receiving a salary from the Manufacturers Association 00:17:39.589 --> 00:17:42.549 of Connecticut. Wow. You cannot have a corporate 00:17:42.549 --> 00:17:44.750 lobbyist essentially sitting on your official 00:17:44.750 --> 00:17:47.369 Senate payroll. That is a massive ethical violation. 00:17:47.609 --> 00:17:52.289 Exactly. Then in 1967, Thomas J. Dodd, a Democrat 00:17:52.289 --> 00:17:54.450 from Connecticut, was censured for using his 00:17:54.450 --> 00:17:56.930 office to convert campaign funds to his personal 00:17:56.930 --> 00:17:59.589 benefit and for general conduct on becoming a 00:17:59.589 --> 00:18:02.279 senator. Dipping into the campaign coffers for 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:04.960 personal use is a classic career -ending political 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:07.079 scandal. And the financial scandals continued. 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:10.519 In 1990, David Durenberger, a Republican from 00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:12.799 Minnesota, faced censure for unethical conduct 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:14.980 relating to the improper reimbursement of Senate 00:18:14.980 --> 00:18:17.599 expenses and the acceptance of outside payments 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:20.990 and gifts. There is also the notable 1979 case 00:18:20.990 --> 00:18:23.470 of Herman Talmadge, a Democrat from Georgia. 00:18:23.730 --> 00:18:26.430 The source details that he was involved in improper 00:18:26.430 --> 00:18:29.630 financial conduct, which included accepting reimbursements 00:18:29.630 --> 00:18:31.670 for official expenses he didn't actually incur 00:18:31.670 --> 00:18:34.450 and improperly reporting his campaign receipts. 00:18:34.569 --> 00:18:36.890 But the source notes a semantic technicality 00:18:36.890 --> 00:18:39.029 with Talmadge's discipline. Yes, there is a very 00:18:39.029 --> 00:18:41.430 specific linguistic distinction on his record. 00:18:41.569 --> 00:18:44.630 The Senate formally denounced Talmadge rather 00:18:44.630 --> 00:18:47.069 than officially using the word censure, though 00:18:47.069 --> 00:18:49.519 historians. and the Senate itself categorize 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:52.200 it in the exact same historical grouping of formal 00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:54.900 disapproval. It functioned exactly like a censure. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:57.200 That brings us to the final and perhaps most 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:00.099 historically famous censure on the entire list, 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:02.769 the McCarthy era. If we connect this to the bigger 00:19:02.769 --> 00:19:05.190 picture, the discipline of Joseph McCarthy in 00:19:05.190 --> 00:19:08.210 1954 was a watershed moment in American politics. 00:19:08.490 --> 00:19:11.210 McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin, had been 00:19:11.210 --> 00:19:14.109 driving the intense, sweeping anti -communist 00:19:14.109 --> 00:19:16.430 investigations of the era that ruined countless 00:19:16.430 --> 00:19:19.009 lives and careers. But looking at the source, 00:19:19.250 --> 00:19:22.690 his censure wasn't directly about his broad political 00:19:22.690 --> 00:19:25.990 crusade, was it? It was about his specific behavior 00:19:25.990 --> 00:19:29.269 toward the Senate itself. That is a crucial distinction. 00:19:29.849 --> 00:19:32.190 He was not censured for his political ideology. 00:19:32.650 --> 00:19:35.950 He was censured for his complete refusal to cooperate 00:19:35.950 --> 00:19:39.690 with and his relentless verbal abuse of the members 00:19:39.690 --> 00:19:41.730 of the subcommittee on privileges and elections 00:19:41.730 --> 00:19:45.490 during a 1952 investigation into his own conduct. 00:19:45.829 --> 00:19:49.289 Furthermore, he abused the select committee to 00:19:49.289 --> 00:19:52.500 study censure. He actively attacked the very 00:19:52.500 --> 00:19:54.779 institutional mechanisms the Senate was using 00:19:54.779 --> 00:19:57.559 to hold him accountable. The Senate finally drew 00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:00.339 a line, issuing a formal censure that broke his 00:20:00.339 --> 00:20:03.380 aura of invincibility and effectively ended his 00:20:03.380 --> 00:20:05.720 reign of influence. It is an absolutely incredible 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:07.380 journey through the history of accountability 00:20:07.380 --> 00:20:09.759 in Washington. Think about what we have covered 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.539 today. We started with the literal expulsion 00:20:12.539 --> 00:20:14.799 of treasonous conspirators in the 18th century, 00:20:14.940 --> 00:20:17.680 with William Blount trying to hand Spanish Florida 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:20.220 over to the British. We explored the massive 00:20:20.220 --> 00:20:22.859 unprecedented exodus of Confederates during the 00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:25.000 19th century Civil War. A completely different 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.619 era. And then we watch the evolution of discipline 00:20:27.619 --> 00:20:30.500 into the modern era, where politicians either 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:32.740 face the career -ending slap on the wrist of 00:20:32.740 --> 00:20:35.559 a censure, or they simply choose to resign rather 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:38.259 than face a final humiliating expulsion vote. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:40.559 It really highlights how the culture and the 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:42.779 strategy of the Senate have shifted over two 00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:46.390 centuries. The evolution is truly stark. And 00:20:46.390 --> 00:20:49.170 as we review this history, this raises an important 00:20:49.170 --> 00:20:51.390 question, one that I want to leave you, the listener, 00:20:51.509 --> 00:20:54.089 to mull over on your own. We've seen that modern 00:20:54.089 --> 00:20:57.309 senators almost always resign before an expulsion 00:20:57.309 --> 00:21:00.230 vote occurs just to save face and control their 00:21:00.230 --> 00:21:03.250 exit. If that is the case, does the actual mechanism 00:21:03.250 --> 00:21:06.210 of an expulsion vote even matter anymore? Or 00:21:06.210 --> 00:21:08.650 is the mere threat of severe public embarrassment 00:21:08.650 --> 00:21:11.549 the true, ultimate enforcing power of the United 00:21:11.549 --> 00:21:14.640 States Senate? Is it the rule itself or just 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:16.640 the fear of the spotlight that keeps them in 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:20.140 line? Such a brilliant thought to end on. Thank 00:21:20.140 --> 00:21:21.700 you so much for joining us for this deep dive. 00:21:21.779 --> 00:21:23.599 We hope this shortcut has left you feeling well 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:25.779 -informed and maybe a little surprised by the 00:21:25.779 --> 00:21:28.359 wild history of our legislative branch. Keep 00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:30.880 exploring, keep questioning, and we will catch 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:33.039 you next time as we dive into another fascinating 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:33.579 topic.