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Contempt of Congress
[House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House]
[Chapter 17. Contempt]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


Sec. 1 . In General

An individual who fails or refuses to comply with a House subpoena may be cited for contempt of Congress. Eastland v. United States Servicemen's Fund, 421 U.S. 491 (1975). Although the Constitution does not expressly grant Congress the power to punish witnesses for contempt, that power has been deemed an inherent attribute of the legislative authority of Congress (Anderson v. Dunn, 19 U.S. 204 (1821)) so far as necessary to preserve and exercise the legislative authority expressly granted (Marshall v. Gordon, 243 U.S. 521 (1917)). However, as a power of self-preservation, a means and not an end, the power does not extend to infliction of punishment. Manual
Sec. Sec. 294-296.
To supplement this inherent power, Congress in 1857 adopted an alternative statutory contempt procedure. Sec. 2, infra. Thus, the House may either (1)certify a recalcitrant witness to the appropriate United States Attorney for possible indictment under this statute or (2) exercise its inherent power to commit for contempt by detaining the witness in the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms. Manual Sec. 296. The statutory procedure is the one used in modern practice, but the ``inherent power'' remains available. In one instance, the House invoked both procedures against a witness. 3 Hinds Sec. 1672.
In contrast, the Senate may invoke its civil contempt statute (2 USC Sec. 288d) to direct the Senate legal counsel to bring an action in Federal courtto compel a witness to comply with the subpoena of a committee of the Senate.
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Sec. 5 . Purging Contempt