THE US IMPEACHMENT PROCESS

The ability to impeach a US President sits with the House of Representatives and appears to be the ultimate check and balance on executive powers. According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the Constitution gives the House the right to impeach—to formally approve allegations of wrongdoing and remove from office, known as articles of impeachment— any sitting President, Vice-president, or Head of a Federal agency. But the road to impeachment is a long and convoluted process that can take months.

According to CRS, the President must be found to have engaged in “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors” to be impeached. The House usually launches a formal investigation into the President’s alleged misconduct, which they must vote on to authorize.

The entire House must then agree upon the “articles of impeachment,” or the specific justifications for impeachment.

According to CRS, the categories for impeachment grounds are:

• Improperly exceeding or abusing the powers of office
• Behavior incompatible with the function and the purpose of the office
• Misusing the office for an improper purpose or personal gain

It’s up to the House Judiciary Committee (HJC) to decide what the articles of impeachment will be. This is usually after weeks of hearings and reviewing evidence into the President’s alleged misconduct. The entire House of Representatives then must vote to approve the articles of impeachment.

If a simple majority of the House approves the articles, it then goes to the Senate. A simple majority would require a total of 218 votes in the House.

After the House approves the articles of impeachment, it’s up to the Senate to decide if it wishes to hold an impeachment trial. The Senate then sets a date for an impeachment trial, during which the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court would preside and the President would testify.

The Senate has the vote on convicting the President. For the President to be removed from office, two-thirds of the Senate must vote to convict the official. In other words, a total of  67 “aye” votes on  impeachment.

7 Steps Impeachment Process

1. Justice Department or an independent counsel investigates charges and presents them to the House Judiciary Committee (HJC)
2. House Judiciary Committee (HJC) reviews evidence
3. House Judiciary Committee (HJC) drafts Articles of Impeachment
4. House Judiciary Committee (HJC) debates Articles of Impeachment
5. Entire House of Representatives debates Articles of Impeachment and votes on them (Simple majority required or 218 votes). If this happens, President is considered impeached.
6. Senate holds the Trial “Will the official be kicked out of office”

• House Judiciary Committee (HJC) acts as the prosecution and presents evidence against the accused.
• Accused chooses own lawyers to present defense
• Chief Justice of Supreme Court as Judge and rules on admissibility of evidence.
• Senate acts as the jury

       7.  A 2/3 majority of the Senate (67 Senators) must vote against accused to remove the person from office.