April 24, 2006
A New Thing to Remember: Section 603
State legislature in California and Illinois are using a little known and never utilized rule of the US House of Representatives, Section 603 of Jefferson’s Manual of the Rules of the United States House of Representatives, which allows federal impeachment proceedings to be initiated by joint resolution of a state legislature.
According to Section 603 of Jefferson’s Manual, “there are various methods of setting an impeachment in motion”: 1) By charges made on the floor by a member of the House; 2) By charges preferred by a memorial filed by a House member; 3) By charges contained in a Resolution introduced by a House member; 4) By a message from the President; 5) By charges transmitted by a State legislature, or a grand jury; 6) By facts developed and reported by an investigating committee of the House.
In number 5, the rules allow for charges to be submitted by the State legislature if the voting parties have voted to do so.
Filed under: Blog, In the News, Impeachment Strategy
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