The Ethics Committee, formally known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, has five options open to it. It can report to the House a resolution recommending either (1) reprimand, (2) censure, or (3) expulsion. The House must, by a majority vote, adopt a resolution of reprimand or censure before it takes effect. In the case of expulsion, a two-thirds vote is required. The Ethics Committee may also decline to report any resolution and instead issue a letter of rebuke to the offending Member. Or it can dismiss ethics charges filed against a Member as unfounded. In the Gingrich case, one charge was subjected to disciplinary action, one charge was left unfinished in the investigatory phase, several charges were the subject of a letter of rebuke, and the remaining charges were dismissed.

Under the regular order, a resolution of reprimand is debated on the House floor for one hour and then voted up or down. The adoption of the reprimand ends the matter procedurally. Since the ethics rules were changed in 1976, seven Members have been reprimanded for the following offenses: a misrepresentation to an investigating committee, failure to report gifts, failure to disclose financial contributions, misuse of political influence, and ghost voting. A resolution of censure is a stronger form of condemnation. It, too, is subject to one hour of debate. However, after the House adopts the resolution, the Member must come forward to the well of the House, and be denounced before the entire body by the presiding officer. This is usually done by reading to him the text of the resolution. He does not speak. Party rules further mandate that in the case of censure, the Member may no longer hold any leadership position within the party. Since 1976, four Members of the House have been censured: for salary kickbacks from staff, for having "ghost employees," for improper personal use of campaign funds, and for sexual misconduct with House pages. A resolution of expulsion expels the Member from the body. The Supreme Court has upheld the authority of Congress to expel its Members as an act of discipline necessary to protect the integrity of the institution. Only four Members have ever been expelled from the House. Over 200 years, various House committees have recommended expulsion, but in most cases the Member resigned before the chamber voted on the expulsion.

The last Member to have been expelled from the House was Rep. "Ozzie" Myers (D-PA) in 1980, for accepting a bribe [on videotape] in the FBI's ABSCAM sting. Myers was the only Member expelled in this century. The House had last used expulsion in 1861 against 3 Members for "Disloyalty to the Union" during the Civil War.

The last Members to have been censured were Daniel Crane (R-IL) and Gerry Studds (D-MA) in 1983, for sexual misconduct with underage congressional pages. The Ethics Committee recommended a reprimand but Members on the floor offered a successful amendment to upgrade the discipline to censure.

The last Member to have been reprimanded was Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) in 1990, for using the influence of his office on behalf of a male prostitute. The Ethics Committee had recommended a reprimand and floor attempts to change that to censure failed.