The state of New Jersey is asking the State Supreme Court to settle whether states may make it possible for voters to recall members of Congress. See this story.
The lower court had refused to decide the issue. It had said, since the question is unclear, at a minimum the state should at least let the committee have the petition blanks. New Jersey allows recall and makes no exception for Congress. However, because New Jersey requires a petition of 25% of the registered voters, it is very unlikely that a statewide recall would ever succeed. Over 1,200,000 valid signatures would be needed. The case is Committee to Recall U.S. Senator Robert Menendez v Wells. The position of the Secretary of State and the Attorney General is that no recall is permitted, due to the U.S. Constitution.
A petition which requires signatures from 25% of registered voters is extremely difficult and stands little chance of making it on the ballot.
When U.S. Senators were chosen by state legislatures the legislatures had no authority to recall a senator. The interesting question is whether the people have a reserved or retained right to recall U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. Such a right would require due process implementing law. If a state passes such an implementing law, as in the case of New Jersey, and if it is valid as a Ninth and/or Tenth Amendment right, then the question still arises as to whether such recall laws, where they exists, must also be uniform in all states under the 14th Amendment.
The upshot of all this is that the people are seeking to innovate political institutions within the framework of Constitution ambiguity despite political rigidities accumulated over the past two centuries and largely imposed by a consensus of two dominant political parties over the last 120 years.
If a unified federation is to be preserved, changes must be made. It may take something extraordinary like a series of constitutional amendments or a constitutional convention for that goal to be achieved. If such innovation is not accommodated, then strong repercussions are virtually certain.
How many State constitutions had to be amended to legally have recalls of party hacks ???
P.R. and nonpartisan A.V. [with SHORT terms] — to greatly reduce the need for safety valve recalls.