Powell v. McCormack
Facts
Powell was duly elected to the House for the 90th Congress, but the House adopted a resolution preventing him from taking his seat while a Select Committee investigated his eligibility and alleged misconduct. The Select Committee found that Powell met the standing constitutional qualifications of age, citizenship, and residency, but it also reported misconduct and recommended that he be seated and then censured, fined, and deprived of seniority. Instead, the House amended the proposed resolution and adopted House Resolution No. 278 excluding Powell and declaring his seat vacant. Powell and some of his voters then sued, alleging that the House could exclude him only if he failed to meet the constitutional qualifications, which the House had expressly found he satisfied.
Issue
Whether the House of Representatives may exclude a duly elected member who satisfies the standing qualifications expressly set forth in the Constitution, and whether that claim is justiciable in federal court rather than barred as a political question or by the Speech or Debate Clause. The Court also considered whether the case had become moot after the 90th Congress ended and Powell was seated in the 91st Congress.
Rule
Article I, Section 5 gives each House authority to judge only the standing qualifications expressly prescribed in the Constitution for its members. A duly elected person who meets those constitutional qualifications may not be excluded by the House; misconduct not amounting to failure of those qualifications must be addressed, if at all, through the House's separate power to punish or expel. A case challenging such an exclusion is justiciable because resolving the scope of the House's Article I, Section 5 power presents a constitutional question for judicial interpretation, and the Speech or Debate Clause does not bar suit against House employees who implement the challenged action.
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If Torres sues House employees seeking a declaration that the refusal to seat her was unconstitutional, how should a federal court rule on the merits?