The Radicals and the more moderate Republicans decided they must act. Johnson had to be curtailed, particularly if he attempted to remove those who dared to disagree. Congress therefore drafted a bill requiring the President to secure the approval of the Senate before firing or suspending any federal officer, including members of the cabinet, who’d been confirmed by the Senate. This would become the contentious Tenure of Office Act—so contentious, in fact, that it was finally and fully repealed, but not until 1887.
