https://www.npr.org/2022/05/12/1098509467/mccarthy-jan-6-panel-subpoena-republicansAnother escalation of democrats pushing the envelope of partisan totalitarianism. Like the divisions cut through our democracy by the nuclear showdowns and Trump impeachments, a group of partisan democrats are the first to wield the powers of congressional subpoena against other sitting members of congress, setting yet another precedent. The January 6th committee has subpoenaed congressmen McCarthy, Jordan, Perry, Biggs and Brooks. There is zero legal precedent for this and no imaginable way for the courts to weigh in with any legitimacy on the powers of a congressional body to subpoena its own members, being a necessarily insular power of congress limited only by congressional prerogative.
To be clear: Never before has a chamber of congress issued a subpoena for a member of congress. There is no precedent for enforcing these subpoenas, no means by which legal weight can be placed upon them aside from a novel interpretation by congress, essentially carving out a new precedent however they damn well please. The only reference to it in the constitution is the speech-or-debate clause, Article I, Section 6, Clause 1;
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The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place
This has long been interpreted to say the executive branch has zero legal authority to wield against congress for its speech or debate. But it leaves open the ability of congress to censure its own members. The January 6th committee could not refer congressmen to the DoJ for a contempt prosecution, something made clear in US v Brewster;
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Johnson thus stands as a unanimous holding that a Member of Congress may be prosecuted under a criminal statute provided that the Government's case does not rely on legislative acts or the motivation for legislative acts. A legislative act has consistently been defined as an act generally done in Congress in relation to the business before it. In sum, the Speech or Debate Clause prohibits inquiry only into those things generally said or done in the House or the Senate in the performance of official duties and into the motivation for those acts.
In effect, the power of the January 6th committee to attack other members of congress is censure and impeachment the long way around. And democrats have pulled the trigger and are now overtly weaponizing their majority powers to threaten the minority party. And history has shown us how turnabout works out for Democrats setting precedents to antagonize Republicans.