Under the direction of President John Adams, the Congress passed the Sedition Act of 1798, which made it a criminal offence to publish statements critical of the federal government. The first individual to be tried under the law was Rep. Matthew Lyon, who unsurprisingly had voted against its passage. Lyon was re-elected from jail.
The Senate voted to acquit former President Trump of charges of inciting the January 6th attack on congress. Although Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed that Trump was legally culpable for a "disgraceful dereliction of duty", he concluded that the Senate is unable to convict former officials. The Senate had previously held it has the power to do so.
Although President Johnson had earlier admitted the former Confederate States of America, Congress refused to seat their congressional delegations until passing HR1058 along party lines.
In America's first use of the Presidential veto, George Washington vetoed legislation affixing the size of the House of Representatives at 120 members.
Visualize the 117th Senate and its members, and compare it with past congresses
