A provision of the state Constitution, referred to as Senate or direct address, allows Gov. Tom Wolf to remove Kane after a two-thirds vote by the Senate.

It was last used — unsuccessfully — in 1891 against two state officials who had become mired in a bribery and embezzlement scandal involving Philadelphia's treasurer. Unlike Kane, neither man had been criminally charged and the Senate's then-Republican majority decided it lacked jurisdiction to oust them.