Earl Warren's Last Stand: Powell v. McCormack, Race, and the Political Question Doctrine

Chief Justice Earl Warren had great expectations for Powell v. McCormack.1 According to his clerks, the Chief believed the case would be his swansong.2 He hoped the opinion would become an illustrious historical document, revered as canonical by future constitutional scholars.3 To Warren’s credit, the case contained all the trappings of a great constitutional showdown. At its center: the gregarious Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, who was formally excluded from his seat after allegations of mismanaging funds.4 And the question—who had the power to unseat a fairly elected congressman?— highlighted the escalating tension between Congress and the Court.5 In a jab at the Court, the House report recommending Powell’s sanctions noted that the final vote would be immune to judicial review.6 By the time the Supreme Court granted cert, New York’s 18th Congressional District had reelected Powell, and by the time the justices heard the oral argument Powell was Handsome and charismatic, Adam Clayton Powell was a Baptist pastor elected to Congress from Harlem, New York, in 1944.