Quite by coincidence, the second session of the 93rd U.S. Congress began last week on the eve of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Tiger. But there were very few tigers in evidence among the returning 431 Congressmen and 100 Senators. Their sojourn among the voters back home during the 29-day holiday recess exposed them to an American public that was angry, suspicious, impatient and sour, and one, moreover, that was sharply divided on how to solve the nation's problems. Energy shortages, exploding prices, dwindling jobs, all conspired to make 1974, for most legislators, loom as their Year of the Nervous Stomach.
Beyond pipeline and purse-string issues, what weighs upon Congress is the judgment it must pass upon Richard Nixon in this session. It is a cup that the Congress, almost to a man and woman, would rather let pass from its lips. No U.S. President has ever been found guilty of the Constitution's "high Crimes and Misdemeanors" and turned out of office before his time. Only once has a President been impeached by the House and stood trial in the Senate, and Andrew Johnson's ordeal took place a full century ago (see TIME ESSAY page 30). Yet unless Nixon resigns, and he insists that he will not, the 93rd Congress will surely find its place in history as the "impeachment Congress." The rubric will stand whatever the outcome, even should the House ultimately vote that there are insufficient grounds to support impeachment and let the matter end there. The processes already well begun will ensure the niche.
For the moment, the historic burden rests most heavily on the House of Representatives, and with special force on Congressman Thomas P. ('Tip') O'Neill Jr., 61, the floor leader of the Democratic majority in the House and the man responsible for ensuring the fairness of the impeachment process. "The main thing is getting the show on the road," says O'Neill. "The American people want some action—and they want it on a nonpartisan basis."
The House must play the role of grand jury, deciding whether the evidence of presidential abuse warrants sending articles of impeachment to the Senate. The House duty, as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson phrases it, is to conduct "the grand inquest of the nation." Since October, the House Judiciary Committee has been at work assembling evidence and defining the modern meaning of high crimes and misdemeanors; it hopes to finish its work by April or May. If the 38-member committee then votes to recommend impeachment, the House as a whole cannot escape voting yea or nay on the President. A simple majority of yeas would put Nixon on trial by the Senate, with Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger presiding. At that point, Nixon might well choose to fight no further and resign.