Sometimes, We the People discover that we have made a serious mistake, and we don't want to wait for the next election to correct it. In some states, voters can correct their mistakes with a recall election, such as the 2003 recall of California Governor Gray Davis.The recall, however, is not available on the federal level. Federal officials are removed from office by either expulsion or impeachment. Congress uses expulsion. So, removal of bad actors in congress is a matter of elected officials ousting other elected officials; the electorate has no say in the matter. But is congress policing itself?The U.S. Senate has not expelled a member since the Civil War, when 14 senators were expelled for supporting the Confederacy. Other than that, the Senate has expelled only one member in its 220-year history, William Blount in 1797.Before the 17th Amendment (1913), U.S. senators were chosen by state legislatures. This amendment to directly elect U.S. senators was a very, very bad idea. There...(Read Full Article)