THERE IS NO RECALL OPTION…. This may seem like a nice sentiment, but there is no legal mechanism in place to make it possible in reality.
A House Democrat from Connecticut said Tuesday that Sen. Joe Lieberman should be recalled from office over his opposition to the Senate health care bill.
“No individual should hold health care hostage, including Joe Lieberman, and I’ll say it flat out, I think he ought to be recalled,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) told POLITICO.
This has come up from time to time, but there’s no such thing as a “recall” for senators. Connecticut has no recall law, and more importantly, states with recall laws don’t include members of Congress because that would be unconstitutional.
Members of the Senate can be expelled from the institution for serious wrongdoing — it takes a two-thirds majority — and members can resign. But short of this, once voters elect a senator, he/she is there for six years.
Connecticut voters had their chance three years ago, and 563,725 of them sent Lieberman back to Congress. We’re living with the consequences.
Nevertheless, Rosa DeLauro’s comments speak to the severe frustration being felt by some of Lieberman’s former allies.
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), who has frequently defended Lieberman, added, “It goes beyond frustration in Connecticut in terms of the way people feel. I have a great deal of respect and I have long admired Joe Lieberman. This goes against the grain of most of what he’s fought for and stood for all of his life. It’s thoroughly frustrating and disappointing for so many of us.”
By all appearances, Lieberman doesn’t care.
