President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9835 into law on the 21st of March 1947. This document required every federal civil-service employee to undergo a loyalty screening for membership in or sympathy with organizations labeled totalitarian, fascist, communist, or subversive.
Ten individuals who refused to cooperate with House Committee on Un-American Activities inquiries were subsequently sentenced to prison for contempt of Congress. Two received six-month terms while the rest served one-year sentences and were blacklisted from working in the film industry.
The hunt for sexual perverts resulted in over 5,000 federal workers being fired under the Lavender Scare campaign. Thousands more were harassed and denied employment because homosexuality was classified as a psychiatric disorder posing a potential threat to state security.
The United States Senate voted 67 to 22 on the 2nd of December 1954 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for conduct bringing dishonor to the Senate. In less than a year after these events, McCarthy was censured and his position as a prominent force ended.
Of the 159 people identified on lists used or referenced by McCarthy, evidence only substantially proved that nine had aided Soviet espionage efforts based on Venona project decryptions. Several hundred Soviet spies were actually known but most were never named by McCarthy.