| Now that we have that out of the way, let's dig into Article One Section Five:
Section Five
Clause One:
Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.
This clause states that the House of Representatives and the Senate are the ones that would judge elections. This seems to say that they would be able to find an election unfair or disqualify the returns if they so chose. In practice the Dog does not know of a time when that has happened (he has not checked all the history, so if someone knows of a time, please share it), but the Constitution clearly gives them the power.
It also sets out that to call a House to order requires the presence of a majority of the members of that House. Once that is done, it allows a smaller number (as few as one) to adjourn that House for the day, and then call it to order again, without a majority present. This is how the Senate has prevented the criminal President Bush from making more recess appointments. The Senate is only adjourned for the day, then called back into session inside the three day limit that is covered in the Article Two, Section Two, Clause Three.
This clause also allows this non-majority to compel the attendance of members, with no set means or penalties detailed. In theory that would mean that if a small group of Representatives decided that they wanted the rest to return, they could issue the call and have arrested and brought to the House any member that did not come willingly. This indicates that the Framers wanted to be sure that no group of legislators could hold the Peoples business hostage by not showing up and allowing a quorum to be formed.
In some ways it is a little scary how much power we have vested in the House and Senate to set their own rules and enforce them. The Dog is not sure if it is a good thing or not that traditionally they have not exercised these powers.
Clause Two:
Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
Clause Two says that each of the Houses of Congress may make any rule they like in terms of how it will proceed. Mostly they use some form of Roberts Rules of Order, but there is no reason why a sufficiently motivated majority could not vote to throw out those rules (well, voters would probably have something to say about it, but then again they might not, did you know that they could do whatever they felt best prior to today?).
The Dog is more than a little glad that that Repugs did not take their power grab further than the Presidency, since it seems they would have been within their rights to completely change the rules of the House and Senate if they were disciplined enough. They did, in fact, make some rule changes that made it nearly impossible for Dems to amend or introduce legislation, but is looks as though they could have gone even further. Was that a failure of imagination or gall?
It also allows any rule they like to deal with disorderly behavior, which the Dog takes to mean that if a member would not be quite or was insisting on actions that prevent the House or Senate from working they could take the steps they deemed best. This would include expulsion, if two thirds of the Members of that House voted so. This is what both the Dem and Repug Senate Leaders were threatening convicted felon Sen. Stevens with, if he won reelection.
Clause Three:
Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.
This clause sets up the record keeping minimums for the Congress. They are required to keep a journal of the proceedings. It seems that the Framers expected everything except State Secrets to be recorded and published, at some point. In general we take the "from time to time" to be yearly, but that is not the requirement in the Constitution. It does not require the votes themselves to be recorded, except when 20% of the members present request it. If the full House is present, that means that 87 Representatives have to make the request to include the votes in the record. In the Senate the number is only 20 for a full session. This threshold seems to have been set intentionally low so that the people of the nation might, in general, know how their elected officials stand on a particular law.
Clause Four:
Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
The Dog loves this clause! It basically makes the adjournment of either House contingent on the approval of the other. This means that if the House of Representatives does not feel that the Senate has done its work, it can compel it to stay in session. Unfortunately, it does not allow the House to make the Senate do any work. It is just not allowed to adjourn. The Dog suspects that the Framers did not intend for it to work that way, that they could not imagine a situation where you might be in session and not actually do anything, but that is not what they wrote and ratified.
It also does not allow either House to move from where the government is, without the consent of the other House. Clearly the Framers felt that the government should be in one place, when it acted. This makes a lot of sense when you think about the time required to travel from place to place in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Communication was only as fast as the fastest horse at that time, so if the two Houses of the Congress were separated by long distances it would mean that their work would be greatly delayed by the travel time of the documents.
Section Six
Clause One:
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, beprivileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
The first part of this clause allows for the paying of Senators and Representatives out of the Treasury of the Untied States. The Framers did not want an aristocracy and made sure that you did not have to be wealthy to participate in the Congress. It was altered by the 27th Amendment, in 1992, so that any pay increase that is voted by the Congress shall not take effect until the next Congress convenes. This was 203 years after it was first proposed!
The second part is commonly called the Speech and Debate clause. It sets out that during a session (two years) of Congress, a member can not be arrested at the Congress, except in the cases of felonies, treason and breach of the peace. This is intended to keep anyone from drumming up misdemeanors in order to prevent a member from doing his duty. It is interesting that Rep. "Dollar" Bill Jefferson has based most of his defense on the idea that a search of his Congressional office was unconstitutional under this clause. That seems spurious to the Dog, since the bribery allegations are clearly felonies. This clause also protects the members of Congress from being prosecuted for anything they say in the course of making speeches to or during debate in Congress. That is another pillar (again spurious) of Rep. Jefferson's defense, that since he is member of Congress taking money from a foreign government to get help from the Representative was a part of his duties. It is very frustrating that this kind of behavior is allowed in the Democratic Party and the House of Representatives. As we know from Section Five, Clause Two all it would take is 286 members of the House to expel him for being such a corrupt fool.
Clause Two:
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
This clause says that no member of the Congress can be a member and hold an office of the Untied States at the same time. This is why President Elect Obama resigned his Senate seat. This also seems to mean that no sitting Senator or Representative could hold office and be a Cabinet Secretary. The Framers seem to be less concerned with the power such a joint position would wield than the amount of compensation that a person with two jobs would receive. So, if Sen. Clinton really is going to be Sec. State, she will have to give up the Junior Senate seat from New York.
This is where we will stop for this week. What do you think of your Constitution, citizens?
The floor is yours.
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