(1867) Law forbidding the U.S. president to remove civil officers without the consent of the Senate.
Passed by the Radical Republican s over the veto of Pres. Reconstruction policies. When Johnson tried to dismiss his secretary of war, Edwin M. Stanton , an ally of the Radical Republicans, Congress began {{link=impeachment">impeachment proceedings against him. The law was partially repealed in 1869 and completely repealed in 1887; in 1926 it was found unconstitutional.