Impeachment of federal officials

Impeachment is the constitutional process by which the United States Congress has the authority to remove civil officers of the United States from office. The process to impeach and remove an individual from office involves two stages: first, articles of impeachment are passed by a majority vote of the United States House of Representatives, then a trial is conducted in the United States Senate in which the Senate sits as a jury. In most impeachment trials, the Vice President presides over the trial, however, in impeachment trials of the president, the chief justice of the United States presides. In order to remove the person from office, two-thirds of senators that are present to vote must vote to convict on the articles of impeachment.

Though the Constitution does not define who constitutes a civil officer, Congress has exercised its power to impeach three presidents, one senator, one cabinet official, and 15 federal judges; of these, only eight individuals—all federal judges—were convicted on the charges of impeachment and removed from office.

How does an impeachment work?

U.S. House

U.S. Senate

What's the role of the U.S. House?

The powers of impeachment designated to the United States Congress are enumerated in the United States Constitution. Article I, Section 2 stipulates that the United States House of Representatives has the sole power of impeachment.

Introduction and referral

Under the U.S. Constitution, the process of impeachment begins in the United States House of Representatives, which has the sole power of impeachment. Any member of the House may introduce impeachment charges by declaration under their own initiative, by presenting a listing under oath, or by introducing a resolution which will be referred to a committee. Resolutions against particular individuals are referred to the House Judiciary Committee, while resolutions authorizing an investigation as to whether grounds exist for impeachment are initially referred to the House Rules Committee. These resolutions are then generally referred to the Judiciary Committee as well.

Investigation

The Judiciary Committee typically conducts impeachment investigations, but the committee may refer the investigation to another committee, such as the House Committee on Reconstruction in the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, to either a special or select committee of the U.S. House, or to one of the Judiciary Committee's subcommittees or a specially created subcommittee.

Committee report

Once the committee's investigation is concluded, the full Judiciary Committee will vote on whether grounds exist for impeachment. If a majority of the committee determines grounds exist, a resolution both impeaching the individual as well as presenting the specific allegations, known as articles of impeachment, will be reported to the full U.S. House of Representatives.

Debate

The House will then proceed to debate the resolution presented by the committee. The committee's reported recommendations are non-binding and the House may consider the resolution as a whole or may consider each article of impeachment independently. The House may also vote to impeach even if the committee report does not recommend impeachment.

Should the House, by a simple majority, adopt any articles of impeachment, then the individual is considered impeached.

Subsequent to this vote, members of the House known as House managers will be selected to present the charges to the U.S. Senate. "In recent practice, managers have been appointed by resolution, although historically they occasionally have been elected or appointed by the Speaker of the House pursuant to a resolution conferring such authority upon him."

What's the role of the U.S. Senate?

Article I, Section 3 says that the United States Senate has the sole power to try all impeachments. Further, the Constitution requires that all senators who will vote on impeachment must do so on oath or affirmation and that no person can be convicted on impeachment charges unless two-thirds of the senators present to vote agree to convict.

Upon receiving a resolution from the House notifying the Senate that an individual has been impeached, the Senate will adopt an order notifying the House that the Senate will hear the managers on the charges. The appointed managers then appear before the bar of the Senate to impeach the individual involved and exhibit the articles against him or her.

Plea

Once this is completed, the Senate's procedural rules for impeachment govern the process. Initially, upon presentation of charges, the Senate will issue a summons to the accused to appear and enter a plea. Should the defendant, named the respondent in the Senate's rules, not appear, the individual is presumed to enter a plea of not guilty. "The respondent may demur, arguing that he or she is not a civil official subject to impeachment, or that the charges listed do not constitute sufficient grounds for impeachment. The respondent may also choose to answer the articles brought against him or her." The House can then file a response to the respondent's response, if any.

Trial

Upon the conclusion of the plea, the Senate will set a trial date. House managers or their counsel then provide the Senate with information regarding witnesses who are to be subpoenaed and may apply to the trial's presiding officer should additional witnesses need to be subpoenaed. Under Article I, Section 3, clause 6 of the Constitution, the chief justice of the United States only presides over the Senate impeachment trial if the president is being tried.

During impeachment trials, the full Senate may receive evidence and take testimony or the Senate may order the presiding officer to appoint a committee of Senators to serve this purpose. If a committee is appointed, the committee will present a certified transcript of the proceedings to the full Senate. The Senate can also take additional testimony in an open Senate. The Senate may also order that the entire trial be before the full Senate.

At the beginning of the trial, House managers and respondent's counsel present opening arguments regarding the impeachment charges. The House managers, as the prosecution in the trial, present the first argument. During the course of the trial, evidence is presented and witnesses may be put to both direct examination and cross-examination. The presiding officer may rule on any question of evidence presented but the officer can also refer that question to a vote of the Senate and any senator can request a vote on a particular question. Closing arguments will be presented by each side, with House managers opening and closing.

Judgment

When the trial is concluded, the Senate meets in closed session to deliberate. Voting to convict on the articles of impeachment must be done in open session, and votes are tallied separately on each article. To convict on an article of impeachment, a two-thirds vote of senators present to vote is required. If the respondent is convicted on one or more of the articles, the presiding officer will pronounce the judgment of conviction and removal. The Senate may subsequently vote on whether the impeached official shall be disqualified from holding an office of public trust under the United States in the future. If the Senate considers such a motion, only a simple majority vote is required.

What does the Constitution say about impeachment?

Grounds for impeachment

Notes on impeachment

• Under the Constitution, there is no right to a jury for an impeachment trial in the Senate; instead, the Senate functions as a jury.
• A conviction on impeachment charges is not subject to the Constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy and a courthouse trial on criminal and/or civil allegations on charges raised during impeachment proceedings may be held. Similarly, individuals convicted in a criminal or civil trial may have those convictions used against them in impeachment proceedings.
• Also, the Constitution prohibits the president of the United States from exercising the presidential power to pardon any person who has been impeached by the U.S. House, even if the individual is later acquitted in the Senate.
• In Nixon v. United States, a case brought by an impeached federal judge, Walter Nixon, the court held that the Constitution granted the Congress exclusive power over impeachments and that these decisions were not subject to judicial review in federal court.

Notes on impeachment

• Under the Constitution, there is no right to a jury for an impeachment trial in the Senate; instead, the Senate functions as a jury.
• A conviction on impeachment charges is not subject to the Constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy and a courthouse trial on criminal and/or civil allegations on charges raised during impeachment proceedings may be held. Similarly, individuals convicted in a criminal or civil trial may have those convictions used against them in impeachment proceedings.
• Also, the Constitution prohibits the president of the United States from exercising the presidential power to pardon any person who has been impeached by the U.S. House, even if the individual is later acquitted in the Senate.
• In Nixon v. United States, a case brought by an impeached federal judge, Walter Nixon, the court held that the Constitution granted the Congress exclusive power over impeachments and that these decisions were not subject to judicial review in federal court.

Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution stipulates that the president, vice president, and all civil officers of the United States can be impeached and removed from office on three charges:

• Bribery
• Treason
• Other high crimes and misdemeanors

Treason is defined in Article III, Section 3 of the Constituion as treason against the United States. The document reads, "treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."

The Constitution does not define bribery, but it is thought that the use of the common law understanding of bribery guides the decision to impeach on bribery charges; that is, bribery "takes place when a person gives an official money or gifts to influence the official’s behavior in office. For example, if defendant Smith pays federal Judge Jones $10,000 to find Smith not guilty, the crime of bribery has occurred."

The phrase high crimes and misdemeanors is also not defined in the Constitution. During the Constitutional Convention, Virginia delegate George Mason suggested adding maladministration to the charges of bribery and treason as impeachable offenses. When concerns were raised as to the vagueness of the term, Mason substituted high crimes and misdemeanors instead.

As the Constitutional Rights Foundation notes,

“

Most of the framers knew the phrase well. Since 1386, the English parliament had used 'high crimes and misdemeanors' as one of the grounds to impeach officials of the crown. Officials accused of 'high crimes and misdemeanors' were accused of offenses as varied as misappropriating government funds, appointing unfit subordinates, not prosecuting cases, not spending money allocated by Parliament, promoting themselves ahead of more deserving candidates, threatening a grand jury, disobeying an order from Parliament, arresting a man to keep him from running for Parliament, losing a ship by neglecting to moor it, helping 'suppress petitions to the King to call a Parliament,' granting warrants without cause, and bribery. Some of these charges were crimes. Others were not. The one common denominator in all these accusations was that the official had somehow abused the power of his office and was unfit to serve.

”

In Federalist 65, Alexander Hamilton defined impeachable offenses as "those offences which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or in other words from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated political, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself."

On April 15, 1970, then-Congressman Gerald Ford (R-Mich.) proposed impeaching Associate Justice William O. Douglas of the U.S. Supreme Court. In a speech on the floor of the House, Congressman Ford defined an impeachable offense as "whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history; ... whatever the Senate considers to be sufficiently serious to require removal of the accused from office ..."

In a 2015 report prepared by the Congressional Research Service, legislative attorneys Jared P. Cole and Todd Garvey noted that,

“

Congressional materials have cautioned that the grounds for impeachment 'do not all fit neatly and logically into categories' because the remedy of impeachment is intended to “reach a broad variety of conduct by officers that is both serious and incompatible with the duties of the office.' Nonetheless, congressional precedents reflect three broad types of conduct thought to constitute grounds for impeachment, although they should not be understood as exhaustive or binding: (1) improperly exceeding or abusing the powers of the office; (2) behavior incompatible with the function and purpose of the office; and (3) misusing the office for an improper purpose or for personal gain.

”

Who is eligible to be impeached?

The Constitution expressly provides that the president and vice president of the United States may be impeached. The Constitution further provides that all civil officers of the United States may be impeached. "In the past, Congress has ... shown a willingness to impeach ... federal judges and Cabinet-level executive branch officials, but a reluctance to impeach private individuals and Members of Congress."

Joseph Story, in his Commentaries on the Constitution, wrote that "all officers of the United States, therefore, who hold their appointments under the national government, whether their duties are executive or judicial, in the highest or in the lowest departments of the government, with the exception of officers in the army and navy, are properly civil officers within the meaning of the constitution, and liable to impeachment.

The Constitution, in the Appointments Clause, provides the president with the power to appoint officers of the United States which are subject to Senate confirmation and distinguishes these officials from those inferior officers that the Congress may, by law, grant the president the sole power to appoint (i.e. hire) without Senate approval.

The U.S. Supreme Court further recognized the distinction in the two categories under the appointments clause, categorizing these as principal officers and inferior officers respectively, in Edmond v. United States. In Buckley v. Valeo, the court defined an officer as "any appointee exercising significant authority pursuant to the laws of the United States."

Therefore, as Cole and Garvey note,

“

in analyzing whether one may be properly characterized as either an inferior or principal officer, the Court’s decisions appear to focus on the extent of the officer’s discretion to make autonomous policy choices and the authority of other officials to supervise and to remove the officer. ... it would appear that an argument can be made from the text and purpose of the impeachment clauses, as well as early constitutional interpretations, that the impeachment power was intended to extend to 'all' officers of the United States, and not just those in the highest levels of government. Any official exercising 'significant authority' including both principal and inferior officers, would therefore qualify as a 'civil Officer' subject to impeachment. This view would permit Congress to impeach and remove any executive branch 'officer,' including many deputy political appointees and certain administrative judges.

”

What about impeaching members of Congress?

U.S. Sen. William Blount of Tennessee was the first individual ever impeached by the United States House of Representatives and, to this day, is the only member of Congress ever to have been impeached. The House impeached Blount on July 7, 1797, for allegedly conspiring to incite Native Americans and frontiersmen to attack the Spanish lands of Florida and Louisiana in order to give them to England. After the impeachment vote in the House, but before Blount's impeachment trial in the Senate, the Senate voted to expel Blount under provisions of Article I, Section 5 of the United States Constitution. which gives each chamber the authority to expel a member by a two-thirds vote. Due to a lack of jurisdiction in Tennessee, where Blount fled after his conviction, the Senate could not extradite Blount for his impeachment trial. Two years later, in 1799, the Senate determined that Blount was not a civil officer under the definition of the Constitution and, therefore, could not be impeached. The Senate dismissed the charges against Blount for lack of jurisdiction. Since 1799, the House has not impeached another member of Congress.

What presidents have been impeached?

Andrew Johnson

The Andrew Johnson Impeachment Committee

On February 24, 1868, President Andrew Johnson became the first sitting president to be impeached. Following Congress' passage of the Tenure of Office Act, forbidding the president from removing federal officials without the approval of Congress, Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and replaced him with Ulysses S. Grant. Johnson hoped to challenge the constitutionality of the Act. The House charged him with violating the Act and passed an impeachment resolution 126-47. Johnson was acquitted by the Senate on May 16, 1868, by a vote of 35-19, one vote short of two-thirds. Seven Republican senators broke ranks with the party to prevent Johnson's conviction.

Two tickets to the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton

President William Jefferson Clinton, the second president to be impeached, was charged by the U.S. House on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice on December 19, 1998. The first article of impeachment for perjury passed the House by a vote of 228-206, while the second vote on obstruction of justice passed by 221-212. The charges stemmed an affair Clinton had with White House staffer Monica Lewinski. House Republicans accused Clinton of lying and having others lie, hiding the affair. Two other charges, perjury in regards to an affair with Paula Jones and abuse of power, were rejected by the House. With 708 days remaining in his second term as president, the Senate acquitted Clinton on both charges brought up by the House on February 12, 1999. The perjury charge failed by a vote of 45-55 while the obstruction of justice charge failed on a tied vote of 50-50.

Donald Trump

See also: Impeachment of Donald Trump

Donald Trump was the third president to be impeached. He was impeached first in 2019-2020 and a second time in 2021.

On December 18, 2019, the U.S. House charged Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The first article passed by a vote of 230-197 and the second 229-198. On February 5, 2020, the Senate acquitted him of abuse of power by a 52-48 vote and of obstruction of Congress by a 53-47 vote.

On January 13, 2021, the House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump for incitement of insurrection related to the January 6 Capitol breach during electoral vote counting. On February 13, 2021—after Trump had left office as a result of the 2020 presidential election—the Senate acquitted Trump. A two-thirds vote was required to convict. Fifty-seven senators voted to convict, and 43 voted to acquit.

What other executive branch officials have been impeached?

William W. Belknap

Secretary of War William Belknap was impeached on March 2, 1876, on charges of "criminally disregarding his duty as Secretary of War and basely prostituting his high office to his lust for private gain." The charges were passed by the House even though he had given President Ulysses S. Grant resignation papers earlier that day, and he stood trial before the Senate as a former government official, as agreed to by the Senate. He was acquitted of all charges on August 1, 1876. Following the trial, the Senate agreed not to hold trials for government officials who offered resignation.

Alejandro Mayorkas

See also: Impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas, 2024

On April 17, 2024, the U.S. Senate dismissed two articles of impeachment against U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. In two votes along party lines, with Democrats supporting and Republicans opposing the motions, the Senate voted that the allegations in the articles of impeachment did not meet the definition of high crimes and misdemeanors.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas on February 13, 2024. The vote was 214-213, with 214 Republicans voting in favor. Three Republicans, Reps. Michael Gallagher (R-Wis.), Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), and 210 Democrats voted against impeachment. This was the second time the articles of impeachment were put up for a vote, following a failed vote on February 6, 2024. The House transmitted the articles of impeachment to the U.S. Senate on April 16, 2024.

The articles of impeachment alleged that Mayorkas "willfully and systemically refused to comply with the immigration laws, failed to control the border to the detriment of national security, compromised public safety, and violated the rule of law and separation of powers in the Constitution" and breached the public trust "by knowingly making false statements to Congress and the American people and avoiding lawful oversight in order to obscure the devastating consequences of his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and carry out his statutory duties."

Mayorkas responded to the House Committee on Homeland Security's vote to approve the impeachment articles, saying, "I assure you that your false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted."

Have any federal judges been impeached?

The table below presents a list of federal judges who have been impeached in the U.S. House. Of the 15 federal judges that have been impeached, eight have been convicted and removed from office by the U.S. Senate.

See also

• United States Constitution
• Gubernatorial impeachment procedures

External links

Suggest a link

• Impeachment information from the U.S. Senate website
• Impeachment information from the U.S. House of Representatives website