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Activists in Michigan are trying to recall Rep. Tim Walberg (R) for his support of the Iraq war, but the effort is destined to be a symbolic one with no authority to actually remove Walberg from office, according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) attorney. Lenawee County’s election commission signed off on the language of local resident James Carr’s recall petition this week. He must now collect 50,000 signatures in three months for a recall election to be initiated. No member of Congress has ever been recalled, and the U.S. Constitution does not allow for it, said CRS attorney Jack Maskell, who in 2003 drafted a report on recalling members of Congress. Maskell said previous Supreme Court decisions and the Constitution leave little doubt that a successful recall vote would not legally be able to remove Walberg from office. “It would just be like a public opinion poll,” Maskell said. “You can’t force them out of office that way. It can’t be done, it’s never been done, and that’s why. … there’s no provision for it.” Some states allow for recall elections broadly, but Maskell said the states have consistently ruled that they cannot apply to members of Congress because the Constitution supersedes state law. According to Maskell’s report, the framers of the Constitution considered a recall provision during the drafting stage in 1787 but decided against it. In 1807, a Senate Committee found that the Constitution “has not authorized the constituent body to recall in any case its representative.” The Supreme Court has never ruled directly on recalling members of Congress, but its casework makes it clear that states may not change the terms of office for federal officials, the report says. In Burton v. United States, the court ruled that the only way the Constitution allows for removal of a member of Congress is by term expiration, by death, or by expulsion, which requires a two-thirds majority of the respective chamber. U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton holds that states do not have broad authority to institute term limits or change qualifications or length of terms for members of Congress. Carr himself has suggested in local newspapers that the recall would be, in effect, a poll on the Iraq war. Walberg’s lawyers have maintained that a recall would be unconstitutional and are considering whether to take legal action to stop it. The board declined to adjudge the effort’s constitutionality. “We agree with the CRS summary; there’s no constitutional authority to recall an elected federal official,” said Walberg spokesman Matthew Lahr. According to the report, in 1967 a federal court dismissed a lawsuit attempting to force the Idaho secretary of state to accept recall petitions for Sen. Frank Church (D). In the 1990s, Carr attempted to recall Rep. Nick Smith (R), who held the same seat Walberg holds now. Carr got the language approved but never delivered the required signatures. |
