Censure in the United States

Censure is a formal, and public, group condemnation of an individual, often a group member, whose actions run counter to the group's acceptable standards for individual behavior. In the United States, governmental censure is done when a body's members wish to publicly reprimand the President of the United States, a member of Congress, a judge or a cabinet member. It is a formal statement of disapproval.

The United States Constitution, while specifically granting impeachment powers to both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and also granting both congressional bodies the power to expel their own members, does not mention censure. Congress adopted a resolution allowing censure, which is "stronger than a simple rebuke, but not as strong as expulsion."

Members of Congress who have been censured are required to give up any committee chairs they hold, but are not removed from office. In general, each house of Congress is responsible for invoking censure against its own members; censure against other government officials is not common. Because censure is not specifically mentioned as the accepted form of reprimand, many censure actions against members of Congress may be listed officially as rebuke, condemnation, or denouncement.

The first use of censure in the United States was directed at secretary of the treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was a member of George Washington's cabinet.

In 1800, Representative Edward Livingston of New York introduced a censure motion against President John Adams.

Only one U.S. president has been censured by the United States Senate. In 1834, while under Whig control, the Senate censured Democratic President Andrew Jackson for withholding documents relating to his actions in defunding the Bank of the United States. As a partial result of public opposition to the censure itself, the Senate came under control of the Democratic Party in the next election cycle, and the censure was expunged in 1837.

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