Powell v. McCormack

The Court also addressed the distinction between exclusion--which the House voted on in this case--and expulsion, which the House can only put into effect by a two thirds vote. The Court concluded that, while the House did in fact vote to exclude Powell by more than a two-thirds margin, this may not have been the result had the House members been voting to expel. The majority opinion dismissed the respondent's attempt to equate the two terms:

Although respondents repeatedly urge this Court not to speculate as to the reasons for Powell's exclusion, their attempt to equate exclusion with expulsion would require a similar speculation that the House would have voted to expel Powell had it been faced with that question . . . [T]he proceedings which culminated in Powell's exclusion cast considerable doubt upon respondents' assumption that the two-thirds vote necessary to expel would have been mustered.

Powell v. McCormack was about more than Adam Clayton Powell's right to occupy a congressional seat or receive his back pay. It was also about when the Supreme Court possesses the right to rule on issues of congressional qualification, and it gave the Court the opportunity to establish guidelines on what is a "political question" that federal courts cannot rule on because of separation of power grounds. It was one of the last decisions written by the legendary Chief Justice Warren.