Article I — Section 5

The framers of the Constitution faced a foundational problem of self-governance: who would have the final authority to determine whether a member of Congress had been legitimately elected and was properly qualified to serve? Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress had no consistent mechanism for resolving disputed elections or enforcing its own quorum requirements, creating vulnerabilities to manipulation and paralysis. The framers looked to the British House of Commons, which had long exercised the power to judge its own members' elections, as a model for legislative independence from executive interference. Their core concern was preventing any external body — especially the executive branch or the courts — from controlling the composition of the legislature and thereby corrupting the separation of powers.