Whoops:
WASHINGTON -- Two House Republicans have cast votes as members of the 112th Congress, but were not sworn in on Wednesday, a violation of the Constitution on the same day that the GOP had the document read from the podium.
The Republicans, incumbent Pete Sessions of Texas and freshman Mike Fitzpatrick, missed the swearing in because they were at a fundraiser in the Capitol Visitors Center. The pair watched the swearing-in on television from the Capitol Visitors Center with their hands raised.
"That wasn't planned. It just worked out that way," said Fitzpatrick at the time, according to local press on hand, which noted that he "happened to be introducing Texas Congressman Pete Sessions while glad-handing his supporters in the Capitol Visitor Center that he secured for them when the House swearing in began."
The Bucks County Courier Times said that roughly 500 Fitzpatrick supporters were on hand at the gathering. Fitzpatrick's campaign had solicited contributions for a bus trip to the Capitol and "Mike Fitzpatrick's Swearing In Ceremony."
There is no provision in the Constitution for a remote swearing-in by television.
Obviously, this isn't a huge deal. In fact, other than the fact that in this case it was a fundraiser that caused the problem, it's a little similar to President Obama's own inaugural oath, when Chief Justice Roberts read the oath incorrectly, and a few hours later Obama retook the oath just to make sure everything was copacetic.
But what makes it really funny is that it came just one day before Republicans sanctimoniously read the Constitution aloud on the House floor, as if they believed Democrats had never before laid eyes upon our founding document. As Grim notes, while the Constitution requires members of Congress to take an oath to the Constitution, there's nothing in the document that suggests the oath can be taken remotely by television. Yet even though the Constitution does not explicitly provide for this scenario, Republicans want votes cast by both Fitzpatrick and Sessions to count as if they'd been sworn in correctly all along.
Given that there's really nothing substantive at stake here, it seems reasonable to show a little bipartisan spirit and let the Republicans have their way, and treat Sessions and Fitzpatrick as if they'd been sworn in properly from the start. After all, the Constitution is a living document. And it's nice to see that at least some of the time, Republicans can see that too.