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They can do it without passing a law actually (which is a bit scary if you think about it.) Congress and congress alone has the power to determine its membersh
by evgen 7y ago
They can do it without passing a law actually (which is a bit scary if you think about it.) Congress and congress alone has the power to determine its membership. They can simply pass a resolution stating that no member who was elected by a district that was gerrymandered by some specific criteria will be seated in the future. The courts can go pound sand if they don't like it.
- pvg 7y agoSome of this has been litigated and it's not quite that black and white. Take a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powell_v._McCormack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powell_v._McCormack
- evgen 7y agoYes, the court can make such claims as they do in Powell, and Congress can ignore them. It is pure power politics, but the reputation of the court has been so diminished that Congress could easily get away with refusing to seat a member or two and there is really nothing that anyone could do to stop them.
- pvg 7y agoYou can make that argument about anything, though and it be would be equally applicable. 'The branches of the US government can start ignoring each other'. Sure, they could but that possibility doesn't really offer any useful insight. It's like saying I can become world heavyweight boxing champion by shooting my opponents.