Congress Membership

Congress Membership
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Impeachment is the means by which a judicial branch or an official of the executive may be removed from office for misconduct. The house of representative brings the impeachment charges (Article I Section 2 Clause 5) which are tried before the Senate (Article I, Section 3 Clause 6). Before the official is removed, two thirds of the senate must vote to convict. There has been controversy on impeachment. A review of the impeachment process was assumed to be not possible until Judges Hastings and Richard Nixon challenged their conviction. The federal courts held that the constitution conferred the senate sole power to try impeachments. The Supreme Court upheld the ruling saying the impeachment process was off limits and cannot be reviewed by the judiciary.
The power to investigate is one of the most important non legislative functions of the congress. These investigations are usually done to test the effectiveness of laws passed, to inquire the qualification of members or gather information for future legislations. The power to investigate is delegated to committees. The power of investigation is limited to gathering information into matters that the particular house has jurisdiction. This means that the congress cannot make an inquiry into a citizen’s private affairs. In the case of Kilbourn v Thompson, the Supreme Court held that the House of Representatives had overstepped its powers when it conducted investigations into Jay Cooke and Company.
Enumerated powers are the authoritative capacity of the congress found in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. These provisions have been broadly interpreted by both Supreme Court and Congress. There are controversies surrounding the "Necessary and Proper Clause" found in the provi...