Powell v. McCormack

In Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486 (1969), the U.S. Supreme Court held that Congress wrongly refused to seat Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., after he was reelected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1966.

In Powell, the Supreme Court rejected the power of a chamber of Congress to exclude a duly elected member except as provided in the Constitution. The Court cited the debate during the drafting of the Constitution itself:

“

One other decision made the same day is very important to determining the meaning of Art. I, § 5. When the delegates reached the Committee of Detail's proposal to empower each House to expel its members, Madison “observed that the right of expulsion ... was too important to be exercised by a bare majority of a quorum: and in emergencies [one] faction might be dangerously abused.” He therefore moved that “with the concurrence of two-thirds” be inserted. With the exception of one State, whose delegation was divided, the motion was unanimously approved without debate, although Gouverneur Morris noted his opposition. The importance of this decision cannot be over-emphasized.

”

Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, 536 (1969) (citation omitted).

There was only one concurrence and one dissent.