By a bipartisan vote of 170 to 12, the House Wednesday approved House Resolution 659 (Everett-R-Lycoming) authorizing the House Judiciary Committee to begin an investigation of indicted Attorney General Kathleen Kane to determine her fitness for office after less than a few minutes of discussion.
The last time the House took this action was in 1993 involving then-Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen.
The Subcommittee on Courts of the Judiciary Committee will have the power of subpoena, be able to administer oaths to witnesses, take testimony and make recommendations to the full Committee.
There is no deadline for Committee action.
Senate Vote On Kane
The Senate took over 3 hours to debate Senate Resolution 284 (Scarnati-R-Jefferson) calling for the removal of Kane from office, but failed, by a vote of 29 to 19, to get the required two-thirds vote for removal.
Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R-Montgomery) was the only Republican to vote no on the resolution and Sen. Rob Teplitz (D-Dauphin) was the only Democrat to vote yes.
In a move to bring the resolution up again for a vote sometime in the future, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-Centre) moved to reconsider the vote. But, the normally routine motion was opposed by Democrats. It passed anyway by a party-line vote of 29 to 19.
Both the Senate and House then adjourned until March 14. In the interim the Senate and House Appropriations Committees will hold hearings on Gov. Wolf’s FY 2016-17 budget request.
NewsClips:
Kane Impeachment To Be Considered By House
