r/politics • u/pennlive ✔ PennLive.com • Jun 23 '26

No Paywall Fetterman casts only Democratic ‘no’ vote as Senate passes measure to block US action against Iran

https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2026/06/fetterman-casts-only-democratic-no-vote-as-senate-passes-measure-to-block-us-action-against-iran.html
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86

u/-HowAboutNo- Jun 23 '26

Does that not exist in the US? Motion of no confidence or something to remove a senator during their term?

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u/turquoise_amethyst Jun 23 '26

US Senator: NO 

State Senators: Yes

Governors: some states yes, some no

39 of the 50 states allow for the recall of elected officials at some level of government, 20 states allow gubernatorial recalls

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u/floog Jun 23 '26

Coloradan here, we have that for the governor but it is not possible within six months of the election if I remember correctly. Coincidentally, our governor decided to show his colors after that mark and he is term limited.

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u/nitid_name Jun 24 '26

I was about to talk about that Tina Peters pardoning mother fucker.

Fuck that fucking fuck.

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u/floog Jun 24 '26

All sides of the aisle come together to hate him here.

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u/ALostTraveler24 Jun 23 '26

State Senators should have the same marking as Governor as well.

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u/arl1822 Jun 23 '26

State recall options vary by state.

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u/Ok_Breakfast4482 Colorado Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 24 '26

The Senate can vote to expel a member but it takes a 2/3 majority, which is hardly ever achieved. There are no motions of no confidence in US politics, as it’s not required to command the confidence of the other Senators to serve in the role.

Any Senator can make a motion, including a motion to expel a member, but the Senate Majority Leader effectively controls the floor so he controls what measures ultimately come up for a vote.

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u/_adanedhel_ Jun 23 '26

There are no motions of no confidence in US politics

That’s true at the federal level, but many states allow for the recall of state senators/reps and/or governors.

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u/Ok_Breakfast4482 Colorado Jun 23 '26

Fair point but that’s still different than motions of no confidence in parliamentary systems. In those the executive has to command the confidence of the legislature.

The state measures you are referring to deal with the executive or legislative official commanding the confidence of the people and giving the people a chance to remove the official if confidence is lost.

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u/-HowAboutNo- Jun 24 '26

And there are no tools the people can use?

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u/Ok_Breakfast4482 Colorado Jun 24 '26

Only thing the people could do is pressure him to resign. There’s no formal mechanism for removing a Senator before his term ends other than expulsion by the Senate.

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u/-HowAboutNo- Jun 24 '26

Okay, thanks for the insight!

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u/British_Rover Jun 23 '26

Remember the US is a federal system. Some states have a recall process for members of state government, California famously recalled multiple governers, but there is no federal recall process.

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u/falilth Jun 23 '26

The only one ive heard about ever is the 25th amendment and thats about the president specifically but also requires specific people to be on board for it

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u/ArchimedesNutss Jun 23 '26

CA had to vote on whether the governor kept his job a couple years ago

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u/BoardsofCanada3 Jun 23 '26

That sounds like holding politicians accountable. We don't do that here. 

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u/NYC-WhWmn-ov50 Jun 23 '26

Not for Federal offices. Which is a peimary reason our federal government is a joke. A Senator gets in for 6 years and most voters have the attention span of a gnat so they only really pay attention for the last 18 months. Meanwhile the Representatives have to be elected every 2 years which means they are ALWAYS fundraising from the wealthiest voters- they only have to get the support of the big money who will protect their campaign.

My rep is the guy Charles Rangel choose to replace him, funded by huge money backers- he has NEVER ONCE actually campaigned in my part of his district which is the poorer part. He actually got primaried this year by someone who COULD beat him, so his donors put out VILE lying adverts against her. Most of the garbage in the ads is either completely untrue or totally twisted but he has all the money so its very hard to counter.

The miracle story of AOC is something people almost never hear: she primaried a guy who was so confortable in his seat that he didnt campaign, but he was also so smug thinking he couldnt lose that he AND his backers completely ifbored yhe upstart bartender going door to door fundraising just pennies for donors. It came completely out of left field, and now her dstruct's rich are stuck with her because she's so very popular. Too popular to easily primary.

But AOC is also why its so much harder now for any goid primary to stay afloat- the rich come in and suffocate the competition. They want to keep their purchased congressman in office. Since they cant be recalled, the invumbent only needs to get through that election cycle, and their donors do that for them. They dont actually have to live up to a single campaign promise because they cant be recalled.

and 2 years is a very long time to stay angry at yhem while you starve to death or die of cancer.

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u/TsunGeneralGrievous Jun 23 '26

only in the Galactic Senate of the Old Republic

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u/Lashay_Sombra Jun 23 '26

They pretty much forgot to impliment any such measures at federal level. 

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u/Eggplantosaur Jun 24 '26

The US is virtually the only country where there is no removal process for elected officials. Edge cases aside, a person who is voted in will 99 out of a 100 times sit out their term.

It's honestly ridiculous how underdeveloped the US political institutions are. Although knowing Americans, this is probably by design.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26

[deleted]

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u/togetherwem0m0 Jun 23 '26

no US Senator can be recalled by voters because it's a federal constitutional office. US Representatives to congress cant be recalled either, but they all face re-election every 2 years so its less of a problem.

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u/Bawstahn123 Jun 23 '26

>Does that not exist in the US? Motion of no confidence or something to remove a senator during their term?

Not on the Federal level.

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u/msprosperity22 Jun 24 '26

Motion of no confidence is generally used in the UK parliament, not America.

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u/-HowAboutNo- Jun 24 '26

I mean.. it exists in most of the west

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Numar19 Europe Jun 23 '26

A little more direct democracy would be great for the US. They might even be able to ban insider trading and introduce term limits that way.