Congress's Contempt Power: A Sketch

Congresss contempt power is the means by which Congress responds to certain acts that in its view obstruct the legislative process. Contempt may be used either to coerce compliance inherent contempt, punish the contemnor criminal contempt, andor to remove the obstruction civil contempt. Although arguably any action that directly obstructs the effort of Congress to exercise its constitutional powers may constitute a contempt, in the last seventy years the contempt power primarily through the criminal contempt process has generally been employed only in instances of refusals of witnesses to appear before committees, to respond to questions, or to produce documents. This report outlines the source of the contempt power, reviews major developments in the case law, and analyzes the procedures associated with each of the three different types of contempt proceedings. A more fully developed and detailed version, complete with sources and references, can be found in CRS Report RL34097, Congresss Contempt Power Law, History, Practice, and Procedure, by Morton Rosenberg and Todd B. Tatelman.