Leaving the House: The Constitutional Status of Resignation from the House of Representatives

Do members of the House of Representatives have a constitutional right to resign their seats?This Article uses that question as a window onto broader issues about the relationship between legislators and citizens and the respective roles of liberalism and republicanism in the American constitutional order.The Constitution explicitly provides for the resignation of senators, presidents, and vice presidents, but, curiously, it does not say anything about resigning from the House of Representatives.Should we allow the expressio unius interpretive canon to govern and conclude that the inclusion of some resignation provisions implies the impermissibility of resignation when there is no such clause?Or should we consider this a meaningless variation?This Article examines how members left (or were prevented from leaving) the House of Commons, the colonial American legislatures,