[ Congress expelled 14 members for supporting sedition and
insurrection previously who supported the Confederacy against the
union in 1861. Today we also have seditious members of Congress who
sought to overthrow the election of the president.]
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CONGRESS EXPELLED 14 MEMBERS IN 1861 FOR SUPPORTING THE CONFEDERACY
 
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McKenzie Sadeghi
January 2, 2021
USA TODAY
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_ Congress expelled 14 members for supporting sedition and
insurrection previously who supported the Confederacy against the
union in 1861. Today we also have seditious members of Congress who
sought to overthrow the election of the president. _

Abraham Lincoln, "Abraham Lincoln" by casually cruel is licensed
under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

 

The claim: In 1861, 11 senators and three U.S. House members were
expelled from Congress for refusing to acknowledge Abraham Lincoln's
electoral win

'Co-Conspirators in Sedition': Here Are the Names of Every Republican
Who Voted to Overturn Election Results

 

THE CLAIM: IN 1861, 11 SENATORS AND THREE U.S. HOUSE MEMBERS WERE
EXPELLED FROM CONGRESS FOR REFUSING TO ACKNOWLEDGE ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S
ELECTORAL WIN

Amid reports [[link removed]] that
some House Republicans are expected to challenge the Electoral
College results and vote against President-elect Joe Biden's win,
based on unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud, some social
media users have shared what they allege to be a similar time in
history.

A viral Facebook post claims to tell what happened to a group of
congressmen in the 1860s.

"In 1861, 11 senators & 3 representatives were expelled from Congress
for supporting the insurrection and refusing to recognize Abraham
Lincoln's electoral win," reads a meme, with over 2,000
shares posted Dec. 31 to the Facebook 
[[link removed][0]=68.ARDCEJPSqCTYjhOT_qlFUX5zmLiouCgNvziRP0YTIqbm8JRFgbO-omgqTQUg0gumHQVtS005jnDQiCufN08gw-PFqjZUjC1pmc3DPXrRWOUJ_2pS-P9_2t3DgjTNDwtszskPciiMYnAR_iCwoFWoZTJ_U265TaaJtGrX_9mmm0bORC8c0RGc8PoBZel93jeA6riXI2TLu-IHhFa2cd_IpQWRsc1D8BzLjDv5kfOwqc7kJA9wJYVYO53bpkX2UB-Qd39wDgYnvURzpy0XfLqLQXo1_WgZ1G-5wR37P4D5QBfFNvN9s4zf1co87yh3]page
of the band CAKE. The post was deleted after USA TODAY reached out for
comment.

But similar versions
[[link removed]] of
the claim have also been shared by other users on Facebook. USA TODAY
reached out to them for comment. 

FACT CHECK: Clinton, Obama left federal government with a lower
deficit than when they arrived
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History of House and Senate expulsions

Per Article I, Section 5
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the United States Constitution: "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."

There are no specific grounds of expulsion that are expressed in the
Constitution. However, expulsions in the House and Senate have
concerned cases of disloyalty to the country or conviction of a
criminal statutory offense involving abuse of one's official position,
according to a Congressional Research Service Report
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To date, five members in the House and 15 in the Senate have been
expelled.

 

"In devising this framework, the Constitutional Convention drew upon
British legislative tradition as well as nearly 175 years of precedent
in the colonial assemblies in North America," reads the site of the
U.S. House of Representatives
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"Other than the two-thirds requirement, however, the Framers left it
up to the House and Senate to determine their own rules and the type
of behavior that might warrant expulsion from their respective
chambers."

Framers set the two-thirds threshold because expulsion would remove
someone who was elected by the popular vote of his or her constituents
and, while "the House has wide discretion to act in such cases, it has
demonstrated keen deference to the peoples’ choice of their
Representatives."

Expulsion is used sparingly, and members who faced expulsion from the
House have sometimes chosen to resign instead, and the House has
never expelled a member for conduct that took place before their House
term.

FACT CHECK: 'Greatest danger to American freedom' quote misattributed
to Thomas Jefferson
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14 members expelled in 1861

Lincoln's victory in the presidential election brought forth
the secession of Southern states. The Senate began to explore what
to do with the seats that were left vacant by Southern senators,
according to the Senate.
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In March 1861, Maine Sen. William Pitt Fessenden argued that Southern
states did not have the right to withdraw from the Union, and by
leaving the Senate, the Southern members had resigned their seats.
Others had argued that states did not have the right to secede. The
Senate agreed with Fessenden and declared 
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the seats of six of the departed colleagues as "vacant" and struck
their names from the Senate roll.

Debate followed in July regarding Southern members who did not
formally notify the Senate of their withdrawal and whose terms had not
yet expired. Sen. Daniel Clarke of New Hampshire offered a resolution
to expel the 10 Southern senators, and Sen. James Bayard of Delaware
objected, arguing that expulsion should be reserved for cases of
individual misconduct. The resolution passed with a final 32-10
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expelling the absent members.

The 10 senators were expelled 
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July 1861 for being engaged "in a conspiracy against the peace and
union of the United States Government" for their support of the
Confederacy, according to the Senate.

FACT CHECK:Over 159 million people voted in the US general election
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The resolution for expulsion cited their failure to appear in the
Senate and alleged that members "engaged in said conspiracy for the
destruction of the Union and Government, or, with full knowledge of
such conspiracy, have failed to advise the Government of its progress
or aid in its suppression."

The call for expulsion makes no mention of their purported refusal to
acknowledge Lincoln's election.

The senators expelled in July 1861 were: James Mason and Robert M.
T. Hunter, of Virginia; Thomas L. Clingman and Thomas Bragg, of
North Carolina; James Chesnut Jr., of South Carolina; A.O.P.
Nicholson, of Tennessee; William K. Sebastian and Charles B. Mitchel,
of Arkansas; and John Hemphill and Louis T. Wigfall, of Texas.

John Breckinridge, of Kentucky, was expelled later, on Dec. 4, 1861
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disloyalty to the Union who had "joined the enemies of his country,
and is now in arms against the Government he had sworn the support,"
according to the Senate.

Breckinridge began his U.S. Senate term on March 4, 1861, when Lincoln
began his presidency. At that point, seven Southern states had already
seceded. Breckinridge hoped secession could be stopped, but once
secession became a reality, he delivered one of his final speeches and
returned to Kentucky. 

In October 1861, Breckinridge sent a formal letter of resignation to
the Senate. Expulsion was introduced months later by Michigan
Sen. Zachariah Chandler, as Breckinridge had accepted a prominent
military position in the Confederacy. 

Three members of the House were expelled in 1861 for their
disloyalty to the Union as well, according to Congressional Research
Service
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They were John Bullock Clark and John William Reid, of Missouri, and
Henry Cornelius Burnett, of Kentucky, according to History, Art and
Archives
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the U.S. House of Representatives. Their expulsions also do not cite
any sort of refusal to recognize Lincoln's election.

FACT CHECK:These 5 election statistics do not discredit Joe Biden's
victory
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Our rating: Partly False

The claim that 11 senators and three U.S. House members were expelled
in 1861 for refusing to acknowledge Lincoln's win is PARTLY FALSE,
based on our research. It is true that 14 members were
expelled. However, the reason for expulsion cites their support for
the Confederacy, and it is false to say they were expelled for
refusing to acknowledge Lincoln's election.

Our fact-check sources: 

* United States Senate, Constitution of the United States
[[link removed]]
* Congressional Research Service, June 27, 2016, Expulsion,
Censure, Reprimand, and Fine: Legislative Discipline in the House of
Representatives
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* United States Senate, Civil War Expulsion Cases, Civil War
Expulsion Cases 1 (1862)
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* United States Senate, July 11, 1861: Senate Expels Ten Southern
Members
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* United States Senate, The Civil War Senate Reacts to Secession
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* The Congressional Globe
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March 14, 1861
* United States Senate, Breckinridge Expulsion
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* Congressional Research Service, Jan. 5, 2012, Recall of
Legislators and the Removal of Members of Congress from Office
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* History, Art, & Archives, United States House of
Representatives, List of Individuals Expelled, Censured, or
Reprimanded in the U.S. House of Representatives
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_Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our
print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.
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_Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook._

'CO-CONSPIRATORS IN SEDITION': HERE ARE THE NAMES OF EVERY REPUBLICAN
WHO VOTED TO OVERTURN ELECTION RESULTS

Jake Johnson
January 7, 2021
Common Dreams
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Sen. Ted Cruz fist bumps with a House member during a break in a joint
session of Congress to certify the 2020 Electoral College results on
January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
Erin Schaff-Pool / Getty Images  //  Truthout
"Trump and members of Congress must face consequences for inciting an
attempted coup to stop the peaceful transition of power."

_The 121_ _HOUSE REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED TO REJECT ARIZONA'S ELECTORAL
VOTES:_

_THE 138 HOUSE REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED TO REJECT PENNSYLVANIA'S
ELECTORAL VOTES:_

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