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Order Code RL34114
Congress’s Contempt Power: A Sketch
August 1, 2007
Morton RosenbergSpecialist in American Public LawAmerican Law DivisionTodd B. TatelmanLegislative AttorneyAmerican Law Division
Congress’s Contempt Power: A Sketch
Summary
Congress’s contempt power is the means by which Congress responds to certainacts that in its view obstruct the legislative process. Contempt may be used either tocoerce compliance (inherent contempt), punish the contemnor (criminal contempt),and/or to remove the obstruction (civil contempt). Although arguably any action thatdirectly obstructs the effort of Congress to exercise its constitutional powers mayconstitute a contempt, in the last seventy years the contempt power (primarilythrough the criminal contempt process) has generally been employed only ininstances of refusals of witnesses to appear before committees, to respond toquestions, or to produce documents.This report outlines the source of the contempt power, reviews majordevelopments in the case law, and analyzes the procedures associated with each of the three different types of contempt proceedings. A more fully developed anddetailed version, complete with sources and references, can be found in CRS ReportRL34097,
Congress’s Contempt Power: Law, History, Practice, and Procedure
, byMorton Rosenberg and Todd B. Tatelman.
Contents
Congress’s Power to Investigate..................................1Early History of Congressional Contempt...........................3Inherent Contempt.............................................5Statutory Criminal Contempt.....................................7The Position of the Department of Justice on the Use of Inherent and/orCriminal Contempt of Congress Against the Executive Branch......9Civil Contempt...............................................13Civil Contempt in the Senate................................13Civil Contempt in the House of Representatives.................15
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| Upload Date: | 01/25/2008 |
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